Benoit Mandelbrot
Mathematician and Professor Emeritus, Yale University
Benoît B. Mandelbrot is a French and American mathematician, best known as the father of fractal geometry. He is Sterling Professor of Mathematical Sciences, Emeritus at Yale University; IBM Fellow Emeritus at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center; and Battelle Fellow at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Mandelbrot was born in Poland and educated in France, and is now a dual French and American citizen. His books include the classic "The Fractal Geometry of Nature" (1982).
What are fractals? The man who invented the term—and the geometry to go along with it—explains how complex natural shapes such as mountains and coastlines can be represented mathematically.
A rock tune celebrating his work has become an Internet hit. But did it please the professor himself?
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3 min
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As the celebrated mathematician writes his memoirs, he reflects on the combination of good luck, hard luck, and constant dreaming that made his life a success.
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8 min
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The mathematician has long believed the traditional understanding of market fluctuations would need to be replaced with his fractal model. Unfortunately, he says, “my time…has come.”
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4 min
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The word “fractals,” which Benoit Mandelbrot invented, has caught on with everyone from kids to club owners.
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8 min
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The father of fractal geometry marvels that his work has led to computer renderings of natural shapes that are indistinguishable from the real thing.
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3 min
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The geometry of fractals may be relatively new, but humans—especially artists—have perceived them in nature for ages.
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3 min
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How a quest to combine aesthetics with mathematics produced one of math’s most famous, and gorgeous, images: the Mandelbrot set.
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7 min
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What are fractals? The man who invented the term—and the geometry to go along with it—explains how complex natural shapes such as mountains and coastlines can be represented mathematically.
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4 min
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A conversation with the mathematician and Professor Emeritus at Yale University.
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39 min
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