The making of The Elements for iPad
Popular Science takes an in-depth look into the makings of The Elements: A Visual Exploration for the iPad, the app that's had many reviewers nearly swooning with giddy geek pleasure. The article is written by the original book's author and Wolfram Research's co-founder, Theodore Gray, who described the experience as the chance to create something that "Harry Potter might check out of Hogwarts' library."
The article is a fantastic read and is definitely worth checking out, especially if you have any interest in getting into media publication for the iPad, and how to design dynamic pages that Photoshop nor InDesign simply can't pull off. They took a library of nearly 350,000 images shot for the original book, combined it with a page layout tool constructed from scratch with Mathematica and added a runtime application code to turn those pages (processed on the fastest 8-core Mac Pro out there) into a beautiful iPad book that is truly worthy of Hogwarts.
In addition to the Popular Science interview, check out the above video that debuted on Gray's YouTube channel for the book for an additional look at the book.
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Popular Science takes an in-depth look into the makings of The Elements: A Visual Exploration for the iPad, the app that's had many...
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April 07 2010 at 11:22 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyOne more thing... for those of you familiar with Dorling Kindersley Publishing, this ebook is like the iPad version of those excellent books.
I sincerely hope he publishes other ebooks like this on scientific topics, because I will buy every last one of them.
First app I bought on my 16 GB iPad on launch. Worth far more than $15. If you consider the cost of a decent hard cover, full color book, $15 is a steal.
There are a lot of apps on the App Store for iPhone and iPad that price their product far higher than its value, but this is not one of them. Every iPad user should own this. Even if, for some reason, you have no interest in the topic, it is instructive on what precisely a properly done ebook can be.
This should be what every textbook publisher aims for. It's a high water mark. I can't say enough good things about it.
And here's one more thing... I am a hardcore video gamer, but I would rather read this ebook than play any game on the iPad. Parents are frequently lamenting the lack of quality compelling education software. Put this in front of any person, kid or adult, and it just demands your attention. Wrap your head around that.
That is amazing. Need more people like him in the world.
April 07 2010 at 12:35 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIs the song in the last the same as what Sheldon sang in TBBT S3E18 ?
April 06 2010 at 11:42 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyYeah, I really just want to communicate to people.... Can I have $13.99 now?
April 06 2010 at 8:21 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThis app is just so cool! Very well done, Theodore Gray.
I hope that this pioneering app will inspire more authors and magazine publishers to follow its lead. The Elements really set a great example for how interactive content can be made to enhance the experience on the iPad.
I wish I had Nick living in my basement too.
April 06 2010 at 7:32 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI've been fascinated by this application since the previews came out, but that easter egg he demonstrated at the end of the video is the icing on the cake. When I get an iPad (hopefully this summer), this is the very first App I am buying.
April 06 2010 at 5:21 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThe Tom Lehrer slideshow is worth it on its own!
April 06 2010 at 6:16 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplySimply beautiful. Virtually science come alive.
April 06 2010 at 5:16 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHot Apps on TUAW
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