The materials in the book and on the accompanying disc are not solely developed with only the researcher and professional in mind, but also with consideration for the most of this material has been class-tested by the authors. The book is packed with some 100 computer graphics to illustrate the material, and the CD-ROM contains full-colour animations tied directly to the subject matter of the book itself. The cross-platform CD also contains the program ENDO, which enables users to create their own 2-D imagery with X-Windows. Maple scripts are provided to allow readers to work directly with the code from which the graphics in the book were taken.
Dr. Ralph Herman Abraham was a mathematician who specialized in the development of dynamical systems theory. He was a Professor of Mathematics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He also consulted on chaos theory and its applications in fields such as medical physiology, ecology, mathematical economics, and psychotherapy.
Abraham was also interested in alternative ways of expressing mathematics, for example visually or aurally. He has staged performances in which mathematics, visual arts and music are combined into one presentation. He also developed an interest in "Hip" activities in Santa Cruz in the 1960s and he wrote several books and one website on the topic. He credited his use of psychedelics for inspiring this interest.