We are now ready to approach our motivating problem. This chapter is about graphs, and graphing. A graph is a mathematical object; we must first take this ideal object and form a corresponding object that can be mechanically produced. We do not dwell on the issue; our discourse remains lofty, as we will continue to exploit our abstract models. The abstract models we exploit are, however, grounded in concepts that are realizable. Practical graphing concerns are addressed in [7].
| Jeff Tupper | March 1996 |