Can a contraption made of tinkertovs win at tic-tac-toe? Can a computer be programmed to converse? Compose music? Recreate thunderclouds? Can mathematics really explain anything Everything' Elaboration on these and other questions can be found in The Tinkertoy Cornpitter an. OtherMachinations. This latest collection of A. K. Dewdney's columns from the pages of ScientijicAmerican and Algorithm centers on four basic themes of the electronic aLe: Matter Computes, Matter Misbehaves, Mathematics Matters, and Computers Create. . This framework provides the basis for explorin- chaos and fractals, artificial intelligence, computer-generated works of art, and other captivating topics. 'I'he book is also a rich . recreational resource: most chapter, contain r ecipes and algorithms from which working programs can be constructed. Readers will have their computers playing golf, simulating weather patterns, and much, much more!