[.ca] Geometric Tools for Computer Graphics (ISBN 1558605940)

From Amazon.com:
Reinventing the wheel is a terrible waste of time, yet legions of computer programmers do exactly that every day. Geometric Tools for Computer Graphics gives the working graphics programmer a vast collection of programming examples, complex code snippets explained and ready to use. Each chapter is filled with more than just code examples--the explanations needed to understand why these examples work the way they do are given by authors with experience both in writing and in the field. There is nothing here for the casual graphics programmer and everything for the serious 2-D and 3-D programmer. Thirteen chapters, three appendices, and a three-column index that spans over 30 pages cover everything about computer-graphic geometry, from the basics of using matrices and linear systems to intersecting 3-D objects. The appendices alone are worth the price: "Numerical Methods," "Trigonometry," and "Basic Formulas for Geometric Primitives" are treasures filled with hard-core examples of the kind that can be put to use right out of the box. Less experienced programmers will find these to be invaluable references, but then there's the rest of the book--nearly 1,000 pages loaded with examples and theory, page after page of information written in a clear, concise voice. Any hard-core graphics programmer will appreciate the value of the examples presented here, as well as the discussion of theory. After all, there's no need to waste time experimenting with code once the theory is known. Geometric Tools represents the best of both worlds: discussion of theory and code examples built on and culled from years of experience. --Mike Caputo

warning: first edition:
First of all, I commend the authors on a timely and valuable book. However, a word of caution: this book is full of errors. Every couple of pages I am noting in the margin: did they mean A instead of B? Having encountered so many errors, I am reading every formula with scepticism. The errors are serious enough that I have trouble recommending the book without reservations, but I know of no suitable alternative. I can only hope that the errors will be weeded out of future editions.

Way over my head:
I almost gave this book 2 stars but decided that punishing the authors for my stupidity wasn't fair. This book is obviously chucked full of just about every geometric formula you will ever need in computer graphics. But you had better be a darn serious mathematician! I could simply never grasp mathematics at this level. I could never look at those formulas, written in some alien heiroglyphs, and understand them enough to translate them into code. This book is one of those "Written by Professors for Professors." I bought the book because of the reviews that wrote about the code samples. Well, they are there (pseudo-code, but that is better than nothing) but nowhere near what I was expecting. My mistake was thinking it was a programming book. It's not! Bottom line, if you are looking for computer graphics formulas and understand mathematics, this book is for you. If you are a programmer and are expecting a computer graphics library of functions, look somewhere else.

An incredible amount of material in a single book:
This book provides a solid grounding in vectors and matrices, then covers a wide range of 2D and 3D geometric algorithms, such as object/object distance and intersection, boolean operations, BSP trees, convex hulls, and more. It is a comprehensive guide, giving relevant theory, methods, and working code fragments. It's an incredible value for the amount of material it covers. I think it is a must-have for computer graphics professionals (and others in related fields). In the interest of full disclosure, I wrote the Foreword to this book, which I did because I was pleased with how good it is. Visit Dave Eberly's "Magic Software" site for more about the book's contents.

A real Treasure,:
I just got this book about a week ago and I haven't been able to put it down since. A great resource, a real treasure full of well presented gems. A large number of topics are well presented with mathematical depth that enables you to understand the code. The code is very well written and concise. Truly a great book and a pleasure to read. I hope to see more books like this in the future. I am interested in medical imaging applications and I know I will be using this book for a long time to come. In addition, the authors have a site ... that presents the code and additional very valuable materials.