Some examples of spherical Lissajous curves created with POVRay. Pretty sure the code is Perl.
##############################################################################
# This program created by Hans Mikelson February 1998
#
# This program generates a POV file so that 3D graphs can be
# rendered using the POV ray tracing package. The surface is mapped
# as a sphere for each data point sampled. This was configured for
# use on a Win95 computer. Some changes may need to be made for use on
# other systems. This program assumes that POVRay has been installed
# and that there is a path to it.
##############################################################################
# Define files for the template (header/footer), the data and the POV file.
$povfile="plotter.pov";
$scale =.25;
$radius = $scale;
# open the POV file.
open (POV, ">$povfile");
# Print the header
print POV "#version 3.0\n";
print POV "global_settings { assumed_gamma 2.2 }\n\n";
print POV "#include \"colors.inc\"\n";
print POV "#include \"shapes.inc\"\n";
print POV "#include \"textures.inc\"\n";
print POV "#include \"glass.inc\"\n";
print POV "#include \"stones.inc\"\n\n";
print POV "#include \"metals.inc\"\n\n";
print POV "camera {\n";
print POV "location <-2,-9,-2>\n";
print POV " look_at <-2,0,-2>}\n\n";
print POV "// Light sources \n";
print POV "light_source {<-30, 21, 40> color White}\n";
print POV "light_source {< 0, -8, -4> color White}\n";
print POV "light_source {< 2, 30, 3> color White}\n";
print POV "background { color rgb <1, 1, 1> }\n\n";
@ul = (.3,.3,.6);
@vl = (.2,.2,.9);
for ($j=0; $j<1; $j++)
{
for ($k=0; $k<1; $k++)
{
$u = $ul[$j];
$v = $vl[$k];
$rad = 2;
# Print the data.
for ($i=0; $i<800; $i++)
{
$t = $i * .1;
# Cosines
$cosu = cos($u*$t);
$cosv = cos($v*$t);
# Sines
$sinu = sin($u*$t);
$sinv = sin($v*$t);
# Compute X and Y
$xval = $rad*$sinu*$cosv;
$yval = $rad*$sinu*$sinv;
$zval = $rad*$cosu;
$colr=1/(1+$xval*$xval);
$colg=1/sqrt(1+abs($yval));
$colb=1/(1+$zval*$zval*$zval*$zval);
$xval += $j*5; $yval += $k*5;
print POV "sphere { <$xval, $zval, $yval>, $radius\n";
print POV " texture { pigment {color rgb <$colr, $colg, $colb>}}\n";
print POV " finish {caustics 1.0 phong 1 phong_size 300 reflection 0.15}\n";
print POV "}\n\n";
if ($i>0)
{
print POV "cylinder { <$xval, $zval, $yval>, <$xold, $zold, $yold> $radius\n";
print POV " texture { pigment {color rgb <$colr, $colg, $colb>}}\n";
print POV " finish {caustics 1.0 phong 1 phong_size 300 reflection 0.15}\n";
print POV "}\n\n";
}
$xold = $xval;
$yold = $yval;
$zold = $zval;
}
}}
close(POV);
# End of script
