Benoit Mandelbrot passes away at 85, RIP

From the New York Times,

"In the 1950s, Dr. Mandelbrot proposed a simple but radical way to quantify the crookedness of such an object by assigning it a “fractal dimension,” an insight that has proved useful well beyond the field of cartography.

Over nearly seven decades, working with dozens of scientists, Dr. Mandelbrot contributed to the fields of geology, medicine, cosmology and engineering. He used the geometry of fractals to explain how galaxies cluster, how wheat prices change over time and how mammalian brains fold as they grow, among other phenomena.

His influence has also been felt within the field of geometry, where he was one of the first to use computer graphics to study mathematical objects like the Mandelbrot set, which was named in his honor.

“He doesn’t spend months or years proving what he has observed,” said Heinz-Otto Peitgen, a professor of mathematics and biomedical sciences at the University of Bremen. And for that, he said, Dr. Mandelbrot “has received quite a bit of criticism.”

“But if we talk about impact inside mathematics, and applications in the sciences,” Professor Peitgen said, “he is one of the most important figures of the last 50 years.” "

See also "The Thumbprint of God".

"The Thumbprint of God"

Arther C. Clarke explores the Mandelbrot set in this fantastic hour long documentary. Click on the link above for full screen or watch the video as sized below.



There are many free programs on the web for exploring the Mandelbrot set, here is one.


For the details of the calculation, this site has a nice simple explanation. That link is also where I got these beautiful images that seem... well, like they could be the fingerprint of a god.

I'll be on vacation for the next few weeks, so expect something inspired when I get back!

-pythagoruz