Benoît Mandelbrot, father of fractal geometry, died on October 14th, aged 85

The Economist has a very beautiful tribute to Mandelbrot[1] and it makes for very interesting reading (as always, it is after all The Economist!). They pay a small tribute to the man and his art and how it has made immense contributions to a better understanding of many diverse subjects.

Here's a brief extract (see [1] for the full article):

MATHEMATICS is a curious subject. Though often classed as one, it is not really a science. That scientists use it to describe their interpretation of reality is not quite the same thing. Nor, though, is it an art—not, at any rate, in the modern meaning of that word. The aesthetics of the subject, which any mathematician will tell you are the driving force behind his passion, are not obvious to the senses in the way that those of a painting, a symphony or a play are. Yet Benoît Mandelbrot’s celebrity beyond the academy is largely due to art in its modern, sensuous, sense. For the “set” to which he gave his name, when computed, drawn on a complex plane and suitably tinted, appealed greatly to the senses—as a million posters, greetings cards and T-shirts, bought by people who had not the faintest idea what it was, attest.

Oct 21st 2010 - From The Economist print edition

URL[1]: http://www.economist.com/node/17305197/print

Note: See the following for other tributes to Benoit Mandelbrot.

URL: https://www.opengear.net/blog/2010/10/17#BenoitMandelbrot-Obituary-20101017

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Benoit Mandelbrot Passes Away

Benoit Mandelbrot passed away today. The Mandelbrot set is one of the most colourful, intriguing and beautiful pictures one will find that is mapped so directly and elegantly to mathematics. Mandelbrot popularised Mathematics a lot by virtue of the beauty of fractals and their very appealing images (all the while also explaining a lot of complex phenomena). The NY Times has an obituary here[1] along with the mandatory image[2]. Slashdot has coverage[3] and so does the BBC[4]. The BBC Magazine also has a brief article on "How Mandelbrot's fractals changed the world" here[5]. I'm sure there'll be more for this worthy mathematician who certainly made mathematics far more beautiful for the lay person.

URL[1]: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/us/17mandelbrot.html?pagewanted=all
URL[2]: http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2010/10/17/us/MANDLEBROT2-obit.html
URL[3]: http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/10/16/1446231/Benoit-Mandelbrot-Dies-At-85
URL[4]: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/world-europe-11560101
URL[5]: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11564766

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