Reader Help for The Lifebox, the Seashell and the Soul:
Corrections, Links, and Info About the Code for the Figure
If you have ideas for material to add to this page, please email Rucker
Let me know if you find errors in the new second edition.
Here is a list of corrections to the hardback first edtion The Lifebox, the Seashell and the Soul, ordered by page. Most of these errors were corrected in the paperback first edition, the ones that remain in the paperback first edition are marked with an asterisk *.
Page |
Correction |
1 |
Right-hand column, line 9. Replace "between one and twenty-seven" with"between one and fifty-seven". |
22 |
Caption to Figure 6, lines 1 and 2 of the caption text. Replace "prolific Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdos" with "legendary Indian mathematician Sri Ramanujan". |
61 | Line 2 from the bottom. Replace "Each CA has" with "Each cell has". |
67* | In the second row of figure 23. The graphical representation of rule 30 shown on the right is incorrect, as it simply copies the graphical representation of rule 90 on the left. The correct graphical representation of rule 30 can be found online at the Wolfram MathWorld site. |
131 |
(Figure 47 is too fuzzy.) |
164 |
Caption to Figure 58, line 3 of the caption text. Replace "matures of spots" with "mixtures of spots". |
183 |
Line 3. Replace "zero and a, with one number" with "zero and one, with a number". Note that the "a" in the replacement text is not italicized. |
193 | Line 17. Replace "simulations of evoluted" with "simulations of evolution". |
203 | Starting line 4 from the bottom. Replace "between individual parameters of the solution" with "between corresponding parameters of the solutions". |
206 | Line 17. Replace "that wonder about" with "that wander about". |
209 | Line 9. Replace "their Squidboys, singling" with "their Squidboys, and singling" |
237 |
This page is printed out of place. It should be read after the current p. 239 and before the current p 240. |
264 | (Figure 100 is too fuzzy.) |
302 | (Figure 106 is too fuzzy.) |
306 | Line 5. Replace "parallel mixed states" with "parallel superposed states". |
306 | Line 6. Replace "keeping a mixed quantum" with "keeping a superposed quantum". |
329 | Line 4 from the bottom. Replace "notion of subset" by "notion of which subset". |
348* | Line 13 from the top. Replace "we just discussed in section 5.2.[Note]116" by"we just discussed in section 5.3.[Note]14". |
341 | Line 5. Replace "But are other" with "But there are other". |
346 | Caption to Figure 114. Replace "The vertical access plots" with "The vertical axis plots". |
369 | Line 24. Replace "Figure 120 shows" with "Figure 121 shows". |
371 | Line 25. Replace "of the form L = " with "of the form N =". |
372 | This page is printed out of place. It should be read after the current p. 369 and before the current p.370. |
412 | Caption to Figure 133, line 3 of the caption text. Replace "diagram on the left shows the sit-" with "diagram on the right shows the sit-" |
422 | (Figure 137 is too fuzzy.) |
448* | In the first lines of each of the bottom two paragraphs: "For all g," should be replaced by "For all n, " |
464 | Last line. Replace "shaking in their air" with "shaking in the air". |
504 | (Displayed Schrodinger's wave equation is too fuzzy.) |
520 | Line 4. In the formula, replace the exponent "E" with "F". |
523 | Line 18. Replace "Science 291" with "Science 281". |
515 | Lines 18 - 19. Replace "the sum of the numbers following any '2' must be odd" with "if no '2' appears, the symbol count is even, else we find odd many non-'2' symbols before '2' and likewise after it'". |
524 | Line 20. Replace "social phenomenon. Find a quality" with "or social phenomenon. Find a quality". |
546-555 | Eliminate the skipped lines between the successive figure credit entries. Also print the figure credits in small font like the font used in the end notes. |
In 2016 I updated the links. See the notes section of the online web page version of the book.
Many of the computer-graphical were made by loading parameter files into Cellab, Capow, Boppers, or Chaos; see the Software Downloads page to get these programs. You want to have the 2007 version of Capow.
Figure |
How the Image Was Made |
Chapter One Header |
The image bars at the heads of the six chapters were all generated using Capow. For these images the world is tweaked to be (for reasons relating to the book design) 534 pixels wide, wrapping around from left to right. Chapter One uses an image gotten by loading the "1D Discrete Tree.CA". This is a radius-one sixteen-state rule which is symmetric in the sense that mirror-image neighborhoods produce the same behavior. I found it by using the search features of Capow. |
8 |
Boppers with the parameter file "BOIDCAGE.BL". |
9 |
Chaos program "MANDEL.BAT". |
10 |
Cellab with the parameter file "VOTE.JC". |