groveChuck
U-matic Member
Benoit Mandelbrot, the visionary mathematician who developed fractals as a way to understand the infinite complexity of the universe, has died of cancer at age 85. Fractal theory has subsequently been used to measure clouds, coastlines, and other natural phenomena, and has had great impact in the fields of physics, biology, and astronomy.
He spent most of his life living in the United States, working first for IBM then later for Yale University as a professor of Mathematical science.
Mandelbrot’s seminal work was “The Fractal Geometry of Nature” in which he argues that what seem to be random mathematical shapes in nature can in fact be broken down and shown to follow a repeating pattern. Speaking at the influential Technology Entertainment and Design (TED) conference earlier this year, the father of fractal geometry explained his theories by describing how patterns in cauliflower become apparent when you cut it into pieces.
“If you cut one of the florets of a cauliflower, you see the whole cauliflower but smaller. Then you cut again, again, again, and you still get small cauliflowers. So, there are some shapes which have this peculiar property, where each part is like the whole, but smaller”.
The Polish-born French mathematician founded the field of fractal geometry, the first broad attempt to quantitatively investigate the notion of roughness. He was interested in both the development and application of fractals, which he also showed could be used elsewhere in nature. For years, he worked for IBM in New York. Later he became Sterling Professor Emeritus of Mathematical Sciences at Yale University.
Mandelbrot also received honorary doctorates and served on boards of scientific journals.
Best known for his pioneering work on fractal geometry and influence on chaos theory, Mandelbrot was a rare generalist in an age of academic specialization, with work touching on subjects from physics, to biology, to astronomy. The financial turbulence of recent years rekindled an interest in his studies on financial markets, best explained in the 2006 book "The (Mis)Behavior of Markets."
He spent most of his life living in the United States, working first for IBM then later for Yale University as a professor of Mathematical science.
Mandelbrot’s seminal work was “The Fractal Geometry of Nature” in which he argues that what seem to be random mathematical shapes in nature can in fact be broken down and shown to follow a repeating pattern. Speaking at the influential Technology Entertainment and Design (TED) conference earlier this year, the father of fractal geometry explained his theories by describing how patterns in cauliflower become apparent when you cut it into pieces.
“If you cut one of the florets of a cauliflower, you see the whole cauliflower but smaller. Then you cut again, again, again, and you still get small cauliflowers. So, there are some shapes which have this peculiar property, where each part is like the whole, but smaller”.
The Polish-born French mathematician founded the field of fractal geometry, the first broad attempt to quantitatively investigate the notion of roughness. He was interested in both the development and application of fractals, which he also showed could be used elsewhere in nature. For years, he worked for IBM in New York. Later he became Sterling Professor Emeritus of Mathematical Sciences at Yale University.
Mandelbrot also received honorary doctorates and served on boards of scientific journals.
Best known for his pioneering work on fractal geometry and influence on chaos theory, Mandelbrot was a rare generalist in an age of academic specialization, with work touching on subjects from physics, to biology, to astronomy. The financial turbulence of recent years rekindled an interest in his studies on financial markets, best explained in the 2006 book "The (Mis)Behavior of Markets."
