The Fractal Geometry of Nature | 
 enlarge | Author: Benoit B. Mandelbrot
Publisher: W. H. Freeman
Category: Book
Buy Used: $8.77
New (25) Used (67) Collectible (2) from $8.77
Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 178128
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 468
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 8.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0716711869
Dewey Decimal Number: 516.15
EAN: 9780716711865
Publication Date: 1983
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: clean tight text! some wear to dust cover. PLEASE VERIFY YOUR ADDRESS TO AVOID DELAYS!! average shipping is 7-10 days USPS MEDIA MAIL. need it quicker choose expedited shipping! thanks!
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Imagine an equilateral triangle. Now, imagine smaller equilateral triangles perched in the center of each side of the original triangle--you have a Star of David. Now, place still smaller equilateral triangles in the center of each of the star's 12 sides. Repeat this process infinitely and you have a Koch snowflake, a mind-bending geometric figure with an infinitely large perimeter, yet with a finite area. This is an example of the kind of mathematical puzzles that this book addresses. The Fractal Geometry of Nature is a mathematics text. But buried in the deltas and lambdas and integrals, even a layperson can pick out and appreciate Mandelbrot's point: that somewhere in mathematics, there is an explanation for nature. It is not a coincidence that fractal math is so good at generating images of cliffs and shorelines and capillary beds.
Product Description
Clouds are not spheres, mountains are not cones, and lightening does not travel in a straight line. The complexity of nature's shapes differs in kind, not merely degree, from that of the shapes of ordinary geometry, the geometry of fractal shapes.
Now that the field has expanded greatly with many active researchers, Mandelbrot presents the definitive overview of the origins of his ideas and their new applications. The Fractal Geometry of Nature is based on his highly acclaimed earlier work, but has much broader and deeper coverage and more extensive illustrations.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 A seminal work September 7, 2005
Arturo Ortiz Tapia (Mexico city)
17 out of 18 found this review helpful
Very few books have so many quotes as this one. I am not sure if there is much left to be said, but I know this. For those professionals who still think that fractals are "spurious solutions coming from the discretization of differential equations", should take a closer look to this book. Not only won't harm, but also will show many interesting features about the nature of fractals and the "fractality" of nature, besides the fact that many of them come from *difference* equations, which are not necessarily related to the discretization of a differential equation. This book is based on serious work from many well-reputed mathematicians before Mandelbrot, e.g., Haussdorff, Lyapunov and some others. Although the book does talk about the mathematics behind fractals (wouldn't be so much a book of mathematics if it didn't, but also a philosophical one) and the necessity of coining some new mathematical terms, it also contains so much about history of mathematics, the path that leads towards fractals. As I said, the book is many times quoted, but (without trying to point a firing, accusing finger), there is a difference in quoting a book because it is famous, and another actually reading it, and having enlightenment for our own sake. Certainly I think is a "must-have-it" for most mathematicians, for many physicists, philosophers of science and engineers, but also it wouldn't be a bad guest in the library of any layman, provided the layman overcomes for some minutes the initial "classical" fear to mathematics. I would say this layman won't regret it at all. Mandelbrot does explain most of the concepts practically "ab initio", from the very scratch, including etymology and history as I previously said. One little thing against this book though: it doesn't have so many color plates as some other books on the subject, but it does have all the needed graphics to grasp the concepts.
The premiere primer on the subject of fractal geometry. July 31, 1998
15 out of 21 found this review helpful
This tome is the immortal classic that introduces fractals to the layman and scholar alike. The mechanics and beauty of fractals are presented in a very readable manner that is sure to pique the interest of anyone seeking a deterministic, yet almost supernaturally pervasive paradigm of the structure of the universe. This book fundamentally affected my personal outlook on nature irrecovably. I would advise leaving it on the coffee table for your children to examine.
This book started it all June 14, 1998
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
This book is by far the very root by which chaos and the interrelations with that of nature came into existance. Mandelbrot describes chaos and dynamical systems as applied in the real world, and how fractals do appear in nature. Mandelbrot gets an A+.
Essential classic book for everyone's library November 9, 2004
Patrick Gorn (Chicago, IL USA)
6 out of 15 found this review helpful
Mandelbrot presents unique and infinitely deep look at nature. The emerging theory of interaction shows that his notion of fractal turned to be more fruitful than anyone could guess. Savov's theory of interaction rigorously proves that nature is one self-reproducing and therefore self-similar fractal like interaction. Its oscillating sources remain always finite and synchronize to eject smaller similar ones.
The Start of the Fractal Era of Mankind March 19, 1998
1 out of 14 found this review helpful
One can not praise a masterwork enough. If you have the money buy it. Your unique Associates ID is: thefractaltransl.
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