diff --git a/python/network.py b/python/network.py
index dff541f..c5aa1d6 100644
--- a/python/network.py
+++ b/python/network.py
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ class Fiber:
 
         #print(volume)
         return volume
+
 '''
     Writes the header given and open file descripion, number of verticies and number of edges.
 '''
@@ -331,3 +332,33 @@ def distancefield(nodeList, edgeList, R=(100, 100, 100)):
     D, I = tree.query(Q)
     
     return D
+
+#returns the number of points in the network
+def npoints(N, F):
+    n = 0
+    for f in F:
+        n = n + len(f.points) - 2
+    n = n + len(N)
+    return n
+
+#returns the number of linear segments in the network
+def nsegments(N, F):
+    n = 0
+    for f in F:
+        n = n + len(f.points) - 1
+    return n
+
+def vectorize(N, F):
+    #initialize three coordinate vectors ()
+    n = nsegments(N, F)
+    X = np.zeros((n))
+    Y = np.zeros((n))
+    Z = np.zeros((n))
+    idx = 0
+    for i in range(0, len(F)):
+        for j in range(0, len(F[i].points)-1):
+            X[idx] = F[i].points[j][0]-F[i].points[j+1][0]
+            Y[idx] = F[i].points[j][1]-F[i].points[j+1][1]
+            Z[idx] = F[i].points[j][2]-F[i].points[j+1][2]
+            idx = idx + 1
+    return X, Y, Z
diff --git a/python/spharmonics.py b/python/spharmonics.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9093511
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/spharmonics.py
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+"""
+Created on Mon Dec 18 16:31:36 2017
+
+@author: david
+"""
+
+import numpy
+import scipy
+import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+from matplotlib import cm, colors
+from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d import Axes3D
+import math
+
+
+def sph2cart(theta, phi, r):
+    x = r * numpy.cos(theta) * numpy.sin(phi)
+    y = r * numpy.sin(theta) * numpy.sin(phi)
+    z = r * numpy.cos(phi)
+    
+    return x, y, z
+
+def cart2sph(x,y,z):
+    r = numpy.sqrt(x**2+y**2+z**2)
+    theta = numpy.arctan2(y,x)
+    phi = numpy.arccos(z/r)
+    #if(x == 0):
+    #    phi = 0
+    #else:
+    #    phi = numpy.arccos(z/r)
+    #phi = numpy.arctan2(numpy.sqrt(x**2 + y**2), z)
+    return r, theta, phi
+
+
+def sh(theta, phi, l, m):
+    
+    if m < 0:
+        return numpy.sqrt(2) * (-1)**m * scipy.special.sph_harm(abs(m), l, theta, phi).imag
+    elif m > 0:
+        return numpy.sqrt(2) * (-1)**m * scipy.special.sph_harm(m, l, theta, phi).real
+    else:
+        return scipy.special.sph_harm(0, l, theta, phi).real
+    
+#calculate a spherical harmonic value from a set of coefficients and a spherical coordinate        
+def sh_coeff(theta, phi, C):
+    
+    s = numpy.zeros(theta.shape)
+    c = range(len(C))
+    
+    for c in range(len(C)):
+        l, m = i2lm(c)                  #get the 2D indices
+        s = s + C[c] * sh(theta, phi, l, m)
+        
+    return s
+
+#plot a spherical harmonic function on a sphere using N points
+def sh_plot(C, N):       
+    phi = numpy.linspace(0, numpy.pi, N)
+    theta = numpy.linspace(0, 2*numpy.pi, N)
+    phi, theta = numpy.meshgrid(phi, theta)
+    
+    # The Cartesian coordinates of the unit sphere
+    x = numpy.sin(phi) * numpy.cos(theta)
+    y = numpy.sin(phi) * numpy.sin(theta)
+    z = numpy.cos(phi)
+    
+    # Calculate the spherical harmonic Y(l,m) and normalize to [0,1]
+    fcolors = sh_coeff(theta, phi, C)
+    fmax, fmin = fcolors.max(), fcolors.min()
+    fcolors = (fcolors - fmin)/(fmax - fmin)
+    
+    # Set the aspect ratio to 1 so our sphere looks spherical
+    fig = plt.figure(figsize=plt.figaspect(1.))
+    ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection='3d')
+    ax.plot_surface(x, y, z,  rstride=1, cstride=1, facecolors=cm.seismic(fcolors))
+    # Turn off the axis planes
+    ax.set_axis_off()
+    plt.show()
+    
+def i2lm(i):
+    l = numpy.floor(numpy.sqrt(i))
+    m = i - l *(l + 1)
+    return l, m
+
+def lm2i(l, m):
+    return l * (l+1) + m
+
+#generates a set of spherical harmonic coefficients from samples using linear least squares
+def linfit(theta, phi, s, nc):
+    #allocate space for the matrix
+    A = numpy.zeros((nc, nc))
+    
+    #calculate each of the matrix coefficients
+        #(see SH technical report in the vascular_viz repository)
+    for i in range(nc):
+        li, mi = i2lm(i)
+        yi = sh(theta, phi, li, mi)
+        for j in range(nc):        
+            lj, mj = i2lm(j)
+            yj = sh(theta, phi, lj, mj)
+            A[i, j] = numpy.sum(yi * yj)
+    
+    #calculate the RHS values
+    b = numpy.zeros(nc)
+    for j in range(nc):
+        lj, mj = i2lm(j)
+        yj = sh(theta, phi, lj, mj)
+        b[j] = numpy.sum(yj * s)
+    
+    #solve the system of linear equations
+    return numpy.linalg.solve(A, b)
+
+#generate a scatter plot in 3D using spherical coordinates
+def scatterplot3d(theta, phi, r):
+    #convert all of the samples to cartesian coordinates
+    X, Y, Z = sph2cart(theta, phi, r)
+    
+    fig = plt.figure()
+    ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection='3d')
+    ax.scatter(X, Y, Z)
+    plt.show()
+    
+
--
libgit2 0.21.4