Sign-In
Cart
Learning to Code - An Invitation to Computer Science Through the Art and Patterns of Nature (Snap! Edition)
Hardcover
ProgrammingTeaching Instruction
Publisher Price: $28.95
ISBN13: 9781955604055
Publisher: Lightning Source Inc
Published: Nov 14 2021
Pages: 178
Weight: 0.90
Height: 0.44 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
This is a book about discovery-the discoveries each of us can make when finding beauty in geometric patterns, beauty in mathematics, and beauty in computer programming. This is also a guide for teaching children to program computers in uniquely powerful ways.
It is easy to see how one might find beauty in geometric patterns; this beauty forms the foundation of nature and art. We are continually entranced by geometric form-the symmetry of a butterfly's wings, the spiral of a snail's shell, the facets of a crystal-and each of these natural occurrences is perceived as having beauty associated with it. The hands of people have produced geometric art since marks were first made on cave walls or stones were first fashioned into tools. From the Pyramids and the Parthenon to the finest gold-link chain, the beauty of geometric form is clearly present for all who care to find it.
Underlying the geometric pattern that we experience with our eyes lies a more subtle pattern of mathematical beauty, which is experienced intellectually-a collection of unifying principles that govern the arrangement and shapes of objects, both natural and crafted. Computer programming offers a bridge between the worlds of nature, design, and intellect.
The computer today can be a tool for discovery and creative expression. It can be as malleable as a piece of clay and as powerful as the very ideas it helps to express. You do not have to be good at math or accept the passive ways computers are often used in classrooms. Thornburg's approach is eye-opening.
The programming language used in this book is Snap! Snap! is a free block-based programming language designed at UC Berkeley that can be used on any device with a web browser. It looks a lot like Scratch, but adds a great deal of functionality and was designed to teach computer science concepts like those found in the NSF-funded Beauty and Joy of Computing Course. These added capabilities make it suitable for a serious introduction to computer science for high school or college students.
Like Scratch, Snap! is in the Logo family of programming languages. The Logo programming language was designed for learning and its various dialects have been used by millions of learners for more than half a century. With Logo, students experience powerful ideas, solve problems, and create while engaging in conversation with the computer. Although coding is often thought of in vocational terms, Logo programming lies squarely in the grand traditions of the liberal arts and progressive education.
The book includes step by step examples and code exploring tiles, tessellations, prime numbers, geometric shapes from circles to squirals, the mysteries of The Golden Mean, fractals, and recursion.
Also from
Thornburg, David D.
Learning to Code - An Invitation to Computer Science Through the Art and Patterns of Nature (Lynx Edition)
Thornburg, David D.
Hardcover
Also in
Programming
Interactive Theorem Proving and Program Development: Coq'art: The Calculus of Inductive Constructions
Castéran, Pierre
Bertot, Yves
Hardcover
The Legend of Zelda(tm) Tears of the Kingdom - The Complete Official Guide: Collector's Edition
Piggyback
Hardcover
Python Crash Course, 3rd Edition: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming
Matthes, Eric
Paperback
The Legend of Zelda(tm) Tears of the Kingdom - The Complete Official Guide: Standard Edition
Piggyback
Paperback
Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations
Forsgren Phd, Nicole
Humble, Jez
Kim, Gene
Paperback
Crisis Engineering: Time-Tested Tools for Turning Chaos Into Clarity
Dickerson, Mikey
Nitze, Marina
Weaver, Matthew
Paperback
Embedded Systems with ARM Cortex-M Microcontrollers in Assembly Language and C: Fourth Edition
Zhu, Yifeng
Paperback
Fundamentals of Software Architecture: A Modern Engineering Approach
Ford, Neal
Richards, Mark
Paperback
Make: Electronics: Learning by Discovery: A Hands-On Primer for the New Electronics Enthusiast
Platt, Charles
Paperback
Vibe Coding: Building Production-Grade Software with Genai, Chat, Agents, and Beyond
Yegge, Steve
Kim, Gene
Paperback
AI Projects with Raspberry Pi: High-Performance Artificial Intelligence for Robotics, Security, Home Automation, and Vision
Hattersley, Lucy
Jepson, Brian
Paperback
The Manager's Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change
Fournier, Camille
Paperback
I Have an App Idea: The Essential Guide to Building an App Without Tech Skills
Spann, Amanda
Paperback
The Devops Handbook, 2nd Edition: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, & Security in Technology Organizations
Debois, Patrick
Kim, Gene
Humble, Jez
Paperback
The Return on AI: From Promise to Profit in the Age of Intelligent Business
Sawhney, Mohanbir
Mittal, Ashwin
Paperback
The Developer's Guide to AI: A Field Guide for the Working Developer
Reghunadh, Jerry M.
Thompson, Danny
Orshalick, Jacob
Paperback
The Staff Engineer's Path: A Guide for Individual Contributors Navigating Growth and Change
Reilly, Tanya
Paperback
Building Applications with AI Agents: Designing and Implementing Multiagent Systems
Albada, Michael
Paperback
Cracking the Coding Interview: 189 Programming Questions and Solutions
McDowell, Gayle Laakmann
Paperback
Software Architecture: The Hard Parts: Modern Trade-Off Analyses for Distributed Architectures
Ford, Neal
Richards, Mark
Sadalage, Pramod
Paperback
Learning Web Design: A Beginner's Guide to Html, Css, Javascript, and Web Images
Robbins, Jennifer
Paperback
Observability Engineering: Achieving Production Excellence
Fong-Jones, Liz
Miranda, George
Majors, Charity
Paperback
The New AI Cold War: Liberty vs. Tyranny in the Age of Machine Empires
Maginnis, Ltc Robert L.
Paperback
Forecasting: Principles and Practice, the Pythonic Way
Athanasopoulos, George
Hyndman, Rob J.
Paperback
Linux Basics for Hackers, 2nd Edition: Getting Started with Networking, Scripting, and Security in Kali
Occupytheweb
Paperback
Building Safer Technology: A Field Guide to Failing Well
Coles, Neil
Kissner, Lea
Zunger, Yonatan
Paperback
The Pragmatic Programmer: Your Journey to Mastery, 20th Anniversary Edition
Thomas, David
Hunt, Andrew
Hardcover
A Human's Guide to Machine Intelligence: How Algorithms Are Shaping Our Lives and How We Can Stay in Control
Hosanagar, Kartik
Paperback
SQL QuickStart Guide: The Simplified Beginner's Guide to Managing, Analyzing, and Manipulating Data With SQL
Shields, Walter
Hardcover
Grokking Algorithms, Second Edition: An Illustrated Guide for Programmers and Other Curious People
Bhargava, Aditya Y.
Paperback
Generative AI Design Patterns: Solutions to Common Challenges When Building Genai Agents and Applications
Hapke, Hannes
Lakshmanan, Valliappa
Paperback
The Official Raspberry Pi Handbook 2026: Astounding Projects with Raspberry Pi Computers
Makers of Raspberry Pi Official Magazine, The
Paperback
Concrete Mathematics: A Foundation for Computer Science
Graham, Ronald
Patashnik, Oren
Knuth, Donald
Hardcover
Head First Design Patterns: Building Extensible and Maintainable Object-Oriented Software
Robson, Elisabeth
Freeman, Eric
Paperback
Learning Domain-Driven Design: Aligning Software Architecture and Business Strategy
Khononov, Vlad
Paperback
The Software Architect Elevator: Redefining the Architect's Role in the Digital Enterprise
Hohpe, Gregor
Paperback
Arduino Programming for Beginners: A Comprehensive Beginner's Guide to Learn the Realms of Arduino Programming from A-Z
Protosmith, Ada
Paperback
Frictionless: 7 Steps to Remove Barriers, Unlock Value, and Outpace Your Competition in the AI Era
Forsgren, Nicole
Noda, Abi
Paperback
Learning Generative AI Tools for Excel: Speed Up Your Everyday Tasks with Microsoft Excel, Copilot, Chatgpt, and Beyond
Duca, Angelica Lo
Paperback
Building AI-Powered Products: The Essential Guide to AI and Genai Product Management
Nika, Marily
Paperback
Debugging: The 9 Indispensable Rules for Finding Even the Most Elusive Software and Hardware Problems
Agans, David J.
Paperback
Build an AI Agent (from Scratch): Agents That Reason, Plan, and ACT Autonomously
Song, Younghee
Hur, Jungjun
Paperback
Learning Php, MySQL & JavaScript: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Dynamic Websites
Nixon, Robin
Paperback
Signals & Levers: Systems Thinking Tools to Unblock Software Delivery
Hendrickson, Elisabeth
Tosi, Joel
Paperback
Software Engineering at Google: Lessons Learned from Programming Over Time
Wright, Hyrum
Winters, Titus
Manshreck, Tom
Paperback
Python Programming for Young Coders: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Coding for Beginners, Kids, and Teens
Pandey, Anand
Paperback
Living a Jewish Life, Revised and Updated: Jewish Traditions, Customs, and Values for Today's Families
Diamant, Anita
Cooper, Howard
Paperback
Programming Massively Parallel Processors: A Hands-On Approach
El Hajj, Izzat
Hwu, Wen-Mei W.
Kirk, David B.
Paperback
AI Agents with MCP: Model Context Protocol for Building Clients, Servers, and End-To-End Agents
Stratis, Kyle
Paperback
Computer Science from Scratch: Building Interpreters, Art, Emulators and ML in Python
Kopec, David
Paperback
Adobe Photoshop, 2nd Edition: A Complete Course and Compendium of Features
Laskevitch, Stephen
Paperback
Java in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference
Flanagan, David
Evans, Benjamin J.
Clark, Jason R.
Paperback
Site Reliability Engineering: How Google Runs Production Systems
Leng, Christof
Beyer, Betsy
Jones, Chris
Paperback
Kubernetes in Action, Second Edition: Deploying and Managing Containers and Cloud-Native Applications
Luksa, Marko
Conner, Kevin
Paperback
Electronic Music and Sound Design - Theory and Practice with Max 9 - Volume 1 (Fifth Edition)
Cipriani, Alessandro
Maurizio, Giri
Paperback
Embedded Systems with ARM Cortex-M Microcontrollers in Assembly Language and C: Third Edition
Zhu, Yifeng
Paperback
Prompt Engineering for Llms: The Art and Science of Building Large Language Model-Based Applications
Ziegler, Albert
Berryman, John
Paperback