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Mandelbrot, father of fractal geometry, dies

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richie
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16 Oct 2010, 6:28 pm

Mandelbrot, father of fractal geometry, dies

Quote:
WASHINGTON — Benoit Mandelbrot, a French-American mathematician who explored a new class of mathematical shapes known as "fractals," has died at age 85 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, his family said.

The cause of death was cancer, his family said in a statement.

His seminal book, "The Fractal Geometry of Nature," published in 1982, argued that irregular mathematical objects once dismissed as "pathological" were a reflection of nature...


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conundrum
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16 Oct 2010, 6:58 pm

Quote:

"...Mandelbrot’s in heaven, at least he will be when he’s dead
Right now he’s still alive and teaching math at Yale
He gave us order out of chaos, he gave us hope where there was none
And his geometry succeeds where others fail...."

"Mandelbrot Set" by Jonathan Coulton



(see http://www.jonathancoulton.com/songdeta ... brot%20Set for the rest of the song)

R.I.P Benoit Mandelbrot.


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PaleBlueDotty
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16 Oct 2010, 8:07 pm

here he is at the MIT - a lecture video from 2001

http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/52

Fractals in Science, Engineering and Finance (Roughness and Beauty)
Benoit B. Mandelbrot

i can remember being fascinated as a teenager in the 80s, when i first saw fractals...



ruveyn
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16 Oct 2010, 8:11 pm

Mandelbrot was one of our most seminal thinkers. A great mathematician.

R.I.P.

ruveyn



SuperApsie
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16 Oct 2010, 10:52 pm

Anti conformist, open, wise and kind

R.I.P.


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CockneyRebel
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16 Oct 2010, 11:08 pm

RIP

He will be greatly missed. :cry:


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17 Oct 2010, 2:20 am

A wonderful tweet on the topic -

"Thank God he wasn't murdered. It would have taken forever for the police to finish drawing the chalk outline."


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Wraythen
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17 Oct 2010, 3:41 am

DeaconBlues wrote:
A wonderful tweet on the topic -

"Thank God he wasn't murdered. It would have taken forever for the police to finish drawing the chalk outline."

:lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:



ruveyn
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17 Oct 2010, 7:40 am

DeaconBlues wrote:
A wonderful tweet on the topic -

"Thank God he wasn't murdered. It would have taken forever for the police to finish drawing the chalk outline."


If Mandelbrot were still around to read that, I am sure he would have laughed.

ruveyn



richie
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17 Oct 2010, 10:17 am

It is ironic that he died of cancer now that fractal and other non-linear geometries are being used
in our understanding of proteins and cell structures.

R.I.P. ?
Should be Diverge in Peace....

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richie
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17 Oct 2010, 12:37 pm

Addendum: A little something popped up on my Facebook page....

Check out PBS NOVA "Hunting The Hidden Dimension"


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Logan5
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17 Oct 2010, 3:35 pm

More obituaries:

"Benoît Mandelbrot obituary. Mathematician whose fractal geometry helps us find patterns in the irregularities of the natural world."
by Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/ ... t-obituary

"Benoît Mandelbrot, Novel Mathematician, Dies at 85"
By Jascha Hoffman
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/us/17mandelbrot.html

"Father of fractals Mandelbrot dies at 85"
By Clive Cookson
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fefe50ae-da15 ... abdc0.html
(That webpage also includes a video of an interview with Mandelbrot, but you have to register with ft.com in order to view anything on their website.)



pgd
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09 Feb 2011, 8:54 am

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandelbrot_set (quite a mathematician)



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09 Feb 2011, 9:44 am

R.I.P Mandelbrot
:cry:


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13 Feb 2011, 12:57 am

DeaconBlues wrote:
"Thank God he wasn't murdered. It would have taken forever for the police to finish drawing the chalk outline."


I didn't realize he had passed away last fall. But this is a fitting tribute to a great thinker who showed us new ways of looking at the universe and everything in it. I see fractals everywhere. Thanks for sharing!