eskimoblood has released a nice Processing library for 3D surface rendering. The possibilities are illustrated in this Flickr photoset, and in this video in which a surface pulses and deforms in time with music.

Paul Bourke's site has a large gallery of surfaces and details on the equations that describe them.

My friend Colin recently introduced me to the Prelinger Archives, a collection of educational and special interest films produced between 1927 to 1987. The "Most Downloaded Items" box on the right is a good place to start. Sure enough, Duck and Cover is by far the most viewed item.