Fractal
geometry is the geometry of the natural world.
It mirrors the uneven but real shapes of nature,
the world as we actually experience it, unlike
the idealised forms of Euclidean geometry.
We see fractals everywhere. Indeed, we are
fractal! Using computers, fractal geometry
can make precise models of physical structures
- from ferns, arteries and brains to galaxies.
Fractal geometry is a new language. Once you
are able to speak it, you can describe the
shape of a cloud as precisely as an architect
can describe a house.
Introducing
Fractal Geometry traces the development of
this revolutionary new discipline from Zeno
to calculus, set theory and the first maverick
mathematicians who set the stage for the genius
of fractal geometry, Benoît Mandelbrot. Text
and graphics combine to offer the most accessible
account of fractal geometry that any reader
is likely to find. To quote J.A. Wheeler,
protégé of Niels Bohr and friend of Albert
Einstein, 'No one will be considered scientifically
literate tomorrow, who is not familiar with
fractals.' This book is the ideal guide to
that literacy.
***
Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon is a producer of television
documentaries.
Will
Rood studied mathematics at Cambridge University.
His fractal animations have graced many television
documentaries and his artwork has featured
on numerous magazines, posters and CD sleeves.
Ralph Edney trained as a mathematician, and
has worked as a teacher, journalist, illustrator
and political cartoonist.
