I thought it would be fun to share some of our favourite books or resources about the themes mentioned in the discussion title. Christmas is coming up and many people might be looking for gift ideas.
I have to give this some more thought, but Iām gonna add my favourites later.
Iām pretty fond of Henry Petroskiās books - in particular āThe evolution of useful thingsā and āTo engineer is Humanā⦠perhaps somewhat tangential to CAD and geometry but still fun. Being a FLW fan since very young, I also like the reproduction of the Wendingen edition - the originals are from 1921-1925 and priceless today.
When it comes to Parametric /Generative Design, the only book I can really recommend is āElements of Parametric Designā from Robert Woodbury.
Although it is partially incorrect it covers almost any relevant basic-to-intermediate knowledge about this topic including Math and Algorithms. It targets designers and architects, so it is easy written and good to read. And it contains pseudocode and it does not target any specific platform such as Grasshopper. Sadly any other book I own about this topic is just the typical tech bullshit bingo with photographs of āawesomeā projects.
Regarding CAD I hardly now any book, not to speak of a good one.Because many of them introduce the reader to a specific platform but they do not provide any theory. Regarding Freeform surfacing there is a german book called āFreiformflƤchen in der rechnerunterstützten Karosseriekonstruktion und im Industriedesignā from Peter Bonitz. But its older and too basic. Its expensive and its in german, but it is the only book I know which covers fundamentals of surface modelling in a technical and professional way.
When it comes to coding it is really up the language, the framework and your skill level. Its always a good idea to buy books from the inventors of the language and as many as you can afford. Because one topic might be better explained in one book the other one in a different one. You should avoid books with big font sizes. For obvious reasons. There is a lot of diversity out there, but its also good idea to buy a book about low level coding. It really helps you in understanding a higher language framework. Donāt trust too much on the internet, alot of misinformation is flying around.
Itās really a good topic to talk about. I am also a book lover like you and love to read books in my free time. My favourite books are- Mathematics- Fermatās Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the Worldās Greatest Mathematical Problem CAD- Beginning AutoCAD 2017: Exercise Workbook Architecture- Architecture: Form, Space, and Order Geometry- This is one of my favourite topics and I have read a lot of books on that. Among them, I like Tutor in a Bookās Geometry and Painless Geometry the most. I am sure you will enjoy the geometry books a lot.
i found that Architectural Geometry is free to download as epub in ebook section on Bentley (the publisher) site now.
here is the link: https://education.bentley.com/Resources