Introducing Fractal Geometry

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 idealized 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, Benoit 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, protege 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.