Programming Atlas

By Christian Wenz
Price: $34.99 USD
£24.99 GBP

Cover | Table of Contents | Colophon

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Colophon

The animal on the cover of Programming Atlas is a black murex snail shell
(hexaplex nigritus). The black murex is found off the gulf coast of California
and Mexico. As the black murex ages, its shell turns from white to predominately
black. However, pure white or black shells are very rare. Mature black
murexes are about 6 inches (15 cm) long.

Black murex snails are carnivorous gastropods. Their diet is composed of
bivalve mollusks, including oysters, clams, and sea anemone. Gastropods
kill their prey by various means, including smothering, tearing, or boring
into the shell by using an acidic mucus to weaken the outside surface.

The murex snail played a crucial role in the culture and trade of the ancient
Phoenicians. They crushed the murex in order to extract a purple-red secretion
used to dye fabric. It is estimated that some 10,000 snails were needed
to dye one toga. As a result, only royalty could afford the precious dye for
clothing. When the dye was combined with silk imported from China, the
purple garments were worth more than their weight in gold. Purple has since
been equated with royalty, but the red of papal robes and the blue in the flag
of Israel are also derivative of murex snail dye.

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