[Disclosure of Material Connection: Princeton Press kindly provided me with a free review copy of this book. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own.]

Opt Art: From Mathematical Optimization to Visual Design
Robert Bosch
Princeton University Press, 2019

I recently finished reading Robert Bosch’s new book, Opt Art. It was a quick read, both because it’s not actually that long, but also because it was fascinating and beautiful and I didn’t want to put it down!

The central theme of the book is using linear optimization (aka “linear programming”) to design and generate art. The resulting art can be simply beautiful for its own sake, or can also give us insight into underlying mathematics.

Linear optimization is something I knew about in a general sense, but after reading Bosch’s book I understand it much better—both the details of how the simplex algorithm works, and especially the various ways linear optimization can be applied. I think Bosch does a fantastic job explaining things in a way that gives real insight but doesn’t get bogged down in too much detail. (In a few places I personally wish there had been a few more details—but it’s quite possible that adding more detail would have made the book better for me but worse for a bunch of other people, i.e. it would not be a global optimum!)

Another thing the book explains really well is how the Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP) can be solved using linear optimization. I had no idea there was a connection between the two topics. I’m sure the connection is explained in great detail in the TSP book by William Cook, which I read 7 years ago, but for some reason when I read that I guess it didn’t really click. But from reading Bosch’s book I feel like I now know enough to put together the details and implement a basic TSP solver myself if I wanted to (maybe I will)!

I’m definitely inspired to use some of Bosch’s techniques to make my own artwork—if I do, I will obviously post about it here!