"It is only twenty-three years since Benoit Mandelbrot published his famous picture of what is now called the Mandelbrot Set. The graphics were state of the art, though now they may seem primitive. But how that picture has changed our views of the mathematical and physical universe! Fractals, a term coined by Mandelbrot, are now so ubiquitous in the scientific conscience that it is difficult to remember the psychological shock of their arrival. What we see in this book is a glimpse of how Mandelbrot helped change our way of looking at the world. It is not just a book about a particular class of problems, but contains a view on how to approach the mathematical and physical universe. This view is certain not to fade, but to be part of the working philosophy of the next mathematical revolution, wherever it may take us. So read the book, look at the beautiful pictures that continue to fascinate and amaze, and enjoy! "
--From the foreword by Peter W Jones, Yale University This book provides a history of the Mandelbrot set of quadratic dynamics together with the authors hard-to-find early papers. It has extensive illustrations throughout and is divided into four sections: quadratic dynamics, klein groups, Minkowski measures, and Julia sets. Each section starts with introductory chapters giving historical context and background to the material. Benoit B Mandelbrot is Sterling Professor of Mathematical Sciences at Yale University and IBM Fellow Emeritus (Physics) at the IBM T J Watson Research Center. He was awarded the Wolf Prize for Physics in 1993 and the Japan Prize for Science and Technology in 2003.
