Help find a book I remember about AI, cellular automata and a 2d alternate universe

December 12, 2008 10:41 AM

Help me find a book I read as a teenager - computers, AI, alternate universe, 2d world...

Occasionally this book comes to mind, but I can never remember the title or author.

It was "purportedly" a non-fiction book, where a researcher in AI/cellular automata makes contact with a "2d" universe and communicates with a creature he encounters, the creature goes on a quest, discovering aspects of his world as he travels.

It was large-format, had screenshots and for some reason I think it may have been a re-interpretation of Gilgamesh or potentially even Flatland - it would have been published in the earlier/mid-80's. I want to get a copy for my kids.

posted by jkaczor to writing & language (4 comments total)

Sigh - found it, I think - on the wikipedia article for Flatland - Planiverse.
posted by jkaczor at 10:43 AM on December 12, 2008

Definately the right one (thanks to Amazon's look inside and the reviewers) - I must have been 12-14 at the time. This book changed my life completely, got me extremely interested in math, science and computers...
posted by jkaczor at 10:54 AM on December 12, 2008

Re-read it a couple of years ago - good choice. :)
posted by plep at 11:13 AM on December 12, 2008

You might also want to check out Flatland: The Movie . . . trailer here from 2007.

While not as sublime as what a child's imagination can create, I didn't not enjoy it.
posted by troy at 5:40 PM on December 12, 2008