1.2 The Science of Computation

summary

Mathematics and mathematical equations have been used over the last 300 years to understand the natural world.
Wolfram demonstrates that simple rules in programs, like those found in cellular automata, can produce complex results.
Cellular automata are a line of cells, black or white, which at each step of a rule is updated based on the color it was in the previous step and the color of its two neighbors.
Rule 30 Cellular Automaton is one example of a program used to produce random numbers in Wolfram’s Mathematica software program.