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<== This is a picture from the interactive geometry
package Cinderella showing the behavior of 10,000 starting
values in the rectangle [0,1]x[h-1,h+1], where h is the height of the
horizontal line, after six iterations of the algorithm which reflects
a point x in the sphere then reflects the outcome in the line and then
averages the result y with x. It is an accessible prototype for a
remarkable image reconstruction algorithm known variously as
Douglas-Ratchford, Lion-Mercier, Fienup's method, and
"divide-and-concur." Some related graphics can be generated and
displayed at these URLs:
Expansion
Reflection
(wait 30-60 seconds to see the display).
Quote of the day (refresh browser to select another):
On the other hand, I maintain that the cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest motive for scientific research. Only those who realize the immense efforts and, above all, the devotion without which pioneer work in theoretical science cannot be achieved are able to grasp the strength of the emotion out of which alone such work, remote as it is from the immediate realities of life, can issue. What a deep conviction of the rationality of the universe and what a yearning to understand, were it but a feeble reflection of the mind revealed in this world, Kepler and Newton must have had to enable them to spend years of solitary labor in disentangling the principles of celestial mechanics! Those whose acquaintance with scientific research is derived chiefly from its practical results easily develop a completely false notion of the mentality of the men who, surrounded by a skeptical world, have shown the way to kindred spirits scattered wide through the world and through the centuries. Only one who has devoted his life to similar ends can have a vivid realization of what has inspired these men and given them the strength to remain true to their purpose in spite of countless failures. It is cosmic religious feeling that gives a man such strength. A contemporary has said, not unjustly, that in this materialistic age of ours the serious scientific workers are the only profoundly religious people. -- Albert Einstein, New York Times Magazine, 9 Nov 1930, pg. 1-4, reprinted in Albert Einstein, Ideas and Opinions, Crown Publishers, Inc. 1954, pg. 36-40.
The complete list of quotes is available
here.
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