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the wind industry's experience with aesthetic criticism, Sheila Pinkel on art on the edge, Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz on the electronic cafe and Arthur Woods on the OURS orbiting space sculpture. The conference included an art-and-science art exhibition, which is documented with artists' comments. Many of the articles will be of interest to engineers and nonengineers alike for their very thoughtful and imaginative discussions of the social and cultural dimensions of contemporary technology. MODERNISM IN DESIGN Paul Greenhalgh, ed. Reaktion Books Ltd., London, U.K., 1991. 256 pp., illus. Trade, £23.00; paper, £9.95. ISBN: 0-948462-12-4; ISBN: 0-94846211 -6. Reviewed byJohn Cooper, Pergamon Press, Headington Hill Hall, Oxford 0X3 OB~ UK. This is a thoroughgoing and wellpresented survey of modernism, mainly in architecture and interior design . It is the kind of collection that allows prejudices and preferences to be retained while at the same time encouraging a sympathetic audience for different perspectives and opinions. If it has a fault, and I am not sure this is one, it is perhaps too balanced, too ready to present alternative viewpoints . It is a pity, however, that the book itself, as an object, shows little evidence of design, modernist or otherwise: an entertaining and thought-provoking message (or collection of messages) marred by a dull and lifeless medium. NASA VISIONS OF SPACE: CAPTURING THE HISTORY OF NASA by Robin Kerron. Prion, Multimedia Books Ltd., 32-34 Gordon House Road, London NW5 ILP, U.K., 1990. 168 pp., illus. ISBN: 1-85375-077-8. Reviewed byRoger F. Malina, Centerfor EUV Astrophysics, 2150 Kittredge, Berkeley , CA 94720, US.A. This book presents the work of artists who documented and interpreted the NASA space program and its achievements . NASA initiated an art program in 1962, which has continued through the present. NASA invited artists to work on location around 628 Current Literature NASA launch facilities and launch vehicles. Over 100 artists have participated in the program, from traditionalists such as Paul Calle and Robert McCall, to more innovative artists such as Robert Rauschenberg. NASA has also commissioned numerous artists to paint illustrations and present their conceptions of space vehicles in space and of extraterrestrial landscapes . Graphics artists have also been commissioned to design the badges, logos and other emblems for the various space missions. This book consists of technical descriptions of different aspects of NASA's program, accompanied by images of the paintings , illustrations and artists' conceptions associated with each of these descriptions . The book is well illustrated, although, unfortunately, for many of the illustrations, the artist 's name is not provided. AARON'S CODE: META-ART, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE WORK OF HAROLD COHEN by Pamela McCorduck, W. H. Freeman, New York, NY, U.S.A., 1991. 225 pp. illus. ISBN: 0-7167-2173-2. Reviewed byRoger F Malina, Center for EUV Astrophysics, 2150 Kittridge, Berkeley, CA 94720, US.A. I recommend this book to all Leonardo readers interested in the use of computers in art, as well as in larger issues of the philosophy of art. The book is about the artist Harold Cohen, and his work using a computer program (named Aaron) that he has been developing for over 20 years. The computer program falls into the category of artificial intelligence in computer science. Cohen has built into the program a number of rules dealing with how to draw figures and shapes 6'n paper using a pen driven by a mechanical plotting machine. The current version of the program draws recognisable objects such as rocks, trees and human figures. It implements various rules for positioning and sizing the figures around the picture plane, and rules for making sure that one object is not drawn on top of another. Once set in operation, the program could draw an infinite number of different drawings with no intervention from Cohen. The computer program itself has rules for determining when each drawing is finished. At this stage Aaron draws only black line drawings, and colors are added after the fact by Cohen. Current versions of the program implement various threedimensional figure features. Aaron is probably one of the most sophisticated and developed art-drawing computer programs existing...

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