Multifractals and 1/f Noise: Wild Self-Affinity in Physics (1963-1976) [Hardcover]

Benoit B. Mandelbrot (Author), J.M. Berger (Contributor), J.-P. Kahane (Contributor), J. Peyriere (Contributor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0387985395 | ISBN-13: 978-0387985398 | Publication Date: January 18, 1999 | Edition: 1

Certain noises, many aspects of turbulence, and almost all aspects of finance exhibit a level of temporal and spatial variability whose "wildness" impressed itself vividly upon the author, Benoit Mandelbrot, in the early 1960's. He soon realized that those phenomena cannot be described by simply adapting the statistical techniques of earlier physics, or even extending those techniques slightly. It appeared that the study of finance and turbulence could not move forward without the recognition that those phenomena represented a new second stage of indeterminism. Altogether new mathematical tools were needed. The papers in this Selecta volume reflect that realization and the work that Dr. Mandelbrot did toward the development of those new tools.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 442 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 1 edition (January 18, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0387985395
• ISBN-13: 978-0387985398
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,346,689 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars No One Can Duplicate The Cover, December 10, 2002

By 

R. Bagula "Roger L. Bagula" (Lakeside, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Multifractals and 1/f Noise: Wild Self-Affinity in Physics (1963-1976) (Hardcover)

I went and asked K. G. Monks for help. Even with his direction I only got a bad approximation.
The rest of the book is less readable than that. It is a collection of Dr. Mandelbrot's
old articles. I interviewed Dr. Mandelbrot several years ago before a lecture of his
at U. C. Riverside. He is not a very friendly or communicative man. His
articles in general are very hard to read and without adequate history and definitions.
It is , thus, incredible that his original book was such a success. Looking at
his work, I would call him a "noise" specialist and not a fractalist at all.
This book is really a book about very hard parts of noise theory.
In my mind Dr. Mandelbrot is very wrong in many of his conclusions ,
but he has some very nice results here. Don't
waste your money if you don't have a graduate degree in mathematics
with a specialization in noise, chaos and dynamics. Most of his recent
articles have been on multifractals applied to stock market theory.
He is one of the great men of our age
and these articles are his feet of clay.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clay, February 24, 2003

By 

robert birmingham (hartford, ct United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Multifractals and 1/f Noise: Wild Self-Affinity in Physics (1963-1976) (Hardcover)

M. is a great man in (large) part because of what he has written, including these papers. And yes they are challenging. I find them nearly self-contained though.