Benoit Mandelbrot
The Fractalist
Memoir of a Scientific Maverick
Pantheon Books, 2012
What's inside?
Benoit Mandelbrot, the “father of fractals,” made seminal mathematical discoveries and lived an astonishing life.
Recommendation
Benoit Mandelbrot, a Polish-born mathematician, is the “father of fractals.” This genius discovered quantifiable order in “chaotic” entities like shorelines and clouds. Mandelbrot tells the story of his dramatic life in this fascinating, if occasionally challenging and perplexing, autobiography. Mandelbrot’s intellectual discoveries prove compelling but, as you might imagine, their knotty complexity can be confusing for laypeople. Besides describing his eventful life, Mandelbrot also provides an absorbing perspective on the history of rustic Mitteleuropa before World War II. getAbstract recommends his book to all those who love to read about history’s brilliant thinkers and praises its artwork of colorful fractal patterns.
Summary
About the Author
Benoit Mandelbrot, a world-famous mathematician, is the father of fractal geometry. He developed a formal “theory of roughness” in nature and discovered the Mandelbrot set, the ideal example of mathematical visualization.
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