Andrew Glassner's Notebook is a regular column in "IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications". The articles from January 1996 through March 1999 are collected into the first book of the series. Mr. Glassner uses everyday phenomena and an accessible style to present mathematics and algorithms for performing all types of computer graphics effects. The following is a brief synopsis of each of the 16 articles comprising the first notebook:
1 SOLAR HALOS AND SUN DOGS - how to create dot patterns that capture the beautiful solar phenomena that occur when light passes through hexagonal ice crystals suspended in the air.
2 FRIEZE GROUPS - the applications of linear symmetry patterns to computer graphics. Glassner gives a descriptive "proof" of why there are only seven frieze groups, and discussed how to recognize which of the seven any given pattern was built upon.
3 ORIGAMI POLYHEDRA - a popularization of the work of Tomoko Fuse, and Rona Gurkewitz and Bennett Arnstein. The column shows how to build the five platonic polyhedra by simply folding up pieces of paper. Next three of the Archimedean solids - the truncated tetrahedron, the cuboctahedron, and the icosadodecahedron - are dealt with. Glassner shows how to fold these, and how they lie halfway between the duals formed by pairs of Platonic solids.
4 GOING THE DISTANCE - tracing curves for 2D implicit surfaces.
5 SITUATION NORMAL - Gouraud and Phong shading and how the shapes of surfaces are not always what we would have expected from these algorithms.
6 SIGNS OF SIGNIFICANCE - different ways of representing characters with digital displays.
7 NET RESULTS - building interesting polyhedra based on their unfolded representation, or net. Also discussed are the five Platonic solids, the unfolding flower, and how to make a kaleidocycle, as well as the connectivity relations for making continuous pictures across the face of a kaleidocycle as it turns.
8 THE PERILS OF PROBLEMATIC PARAMETERIZATION - a little-known mathematical curiosity called the Schwarz paradox. It's a technique for chopping a cylinder into triangles that all lie on the surface, with the unusual property that as the triangles get smaller and more numerous, the sum of their surface area actually goes to infinity. At first it looks like sleight-of-hand with limits, but it's a real phenomenon. It's a cautionary tale about being too casual when choosing a polygonal approximation for a curved surface.
9 INSIDE MOIRE PATTERNS - the geometry of various types of Moire patterns. One can control them and reduce them when desired and also have fun creating new kinds of Moire effects.
10 UPON REFLECTION - the relationship between the geometry of reflection in a line, and specular reflection in a mirror. The article also shows how to use specular reflection to compute a light triangle, which is the smallest-perimeter triangle that can be inscribed in another triangle.
11 CIRCULAR REASONING - shows an interesting property of circles: if you draw a line from point P and it cuts a circle in points Q and R, the product of distances PQ and PR is equal to the value of the point with respect to the equation of the circle.
12 APERIODIC TILING - the world of creating non-repeating patterns that fill the plane.
13 KNOW WHEN TO FOLD - the ubiquitous corrugated cardboard box, and some of the mechanics behind how they're designed and made.
14 THE TRIANGULAR MANUSCRIPTS - tentative translation of some strange manuscripts discovered in the back of a dresser.
15 POLYGONS UNDER THE COVERS - a fascinating relationship between the Fourier analysis of signals and polygons.
16 STRING CROSSINGS - About those string-art figures you may have made at camp by hammering a bunch of nails into a board, and then tieing metallic string from every nail to every other nail. Graph theorists call this a complete graph. How many crossings are there in such a pattern? The path to the answer involves noticing and making use of all sorts of unexpected patterns that keep showing up in the formulas and geometry.
I really enjoyed reading this little book. Only some of the ideas have yielded graphics programs for me, but all of the articles were interesting. It's the kind of book that gets you seeing the geometry, patterns, and graphics in everyday things. I highly recommend it.

I regret I only had chance to peek at the book at the friend's place. The book took me away for half an hour - not enough to really enjoy it, but enough to decide it's going to be in my library.

Glassner's style is fresh, precise and highly readable; illustrations are eye-catching. I admit I had to skip the math, but I know I can go back and find the *details* there.

The only bad taste left after reading this book is, that Graphics Gems series (of which Andrew Glassner was editor) is (probably) dead.

Andrew Glassner is one of my favorite CG writers and I expected more Graphics Gems to come out ... and (sadly) this is not a right replacement.