The Fractal Geometry of Nature: Benoit B. Mandelbrot: 9780716711865: Amazon.com: Books

Hardcover
$54.99

Buy used: $54.99

Delivery Sunday, February 18. Order within 12 hrs 2 mins

Deliver to Canada

Used: Good | Details

Sold by BooksOrDvds

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

Benoit Mandelbrot

The Fractal Geometry of Nature Hardcover – January 1, 1982

by Benoit B. Mandelbrot (Author)

4.6 143 ratings

See all formats and editions

Clouds are not spheres, mountains are not cones, and lightening does not travel in a straight line. The complexity of nature's shapes differs in kind, not merely degree, from that of the shapes of ordinary geometry, the geometry of fractal shapes.

Now that the field has expanded greatly with many active researchers, Mandelbrot presents the definitive overview of the origins of his ideas and their new applications. The Fractal Geometry of Nature is based on his highly acclaimed earlier work, but has much broader and deeper coverage and more extensive illustrations.

Print length

468 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Times Books
Publication date

January 1, 1982
Dimensions

8.28 x 1.41 x 9.33 inches
ISBN-10

0716711869
ISBN-13

978-0716711865
See all details

Benoit B Mandelbrot
63
Paperback
$23.33
$9.94 shipping
Usually ships within 3 to 5 days
Benoit Mandelbrot
1,295
Paperback
$19.20
$9.64 shipping
James Gleick
2,922
Paperback
$17.19
$9.71 shipping
Benoit Mandelbrot
125
Paperback
$17.99
$9.61 shipping
Oliver Linton
110
Hardcover
$12.48
$9.47 shipping
Benoit B. Mandelbrot
1,295
Hardcover
$48.51
Get it as soon as Sunday, Feb 18
$9.94 shipping
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Imagine an equilateral triangle. Now, imagine smaller equilateral triangles perched in the center of each side of the original triangle--you have a Star of David. Now, place still smaller equilateral triangles in the center of each of the star's 12 sides. Repeat this process infinitely and you have a Koch snowflake, a mind-bending geometric figure with an infinitely large perimeter, yet with a finite area. This is an example of the kind of mathematical puzzles that this book addresses.

The Fractal Geometry of Nature is a mathematics text. But buried in the deltas and lambdas and integrals, even a layperson can pick out and appreciate Mandelbrot's point: that somewhere in mathematics, there is an explanation for nature. It is not a coincidence that fractal math is so good at generating images of cliffs and shorelines and capillary beds.

Review

“A rarity: a picture book of sophisticated contemporary research ideas in mathematics.” ―Douglas Hofstadter, author of Godel, Escher, Bach

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Times Books; 2nd prt. edition (January 1, 1982)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 468 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0716711869
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0716711865
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.48 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.28 x 1.41 x 9.33 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #185,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #25 in System Theory
- #28 in Fractal Mathematics
- #82 in Geometry & Topology (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.6 143 ratings

Important information

To report an issue with this product or seller, click here.

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Benoit Mandelbrot

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

143 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Reviews with images

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

John D. Goulden

A must have for math nerds

Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2023

Verified Purchase

This was a replacement, my old copy was water-damaged in storage. Every math nerd should have this book; it is interesting, well-written, and has lots of great illustrations.

Who couldn't love Mandelbrot

Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2014

Verified Purchase

Mandelbrot... R.I.P. my friend... he was an angel sent from infinity to infinity and beyond... although he is gone from the known human world, Mandelbrot is a fractal of the universe and forever spiraling deeper, yet closer, yet wait.. no.. farther.. no.. ah who knows. Fractals are mystery! Oh but hold on... I have this great book written by Mandelbrot on the Fractal Geometry of Nature! That'll tell me what i need to know about where Mandelbrot went in the afterlife. But come on, ok I'll get serious here, this book will get you into some trouble. This is no light darling sweetheart. This is not a book to the easy side of the galaxy of things. It's a full blown mathematical textbook of equations, expecting the average joe to be the all-in-one scientist abroad, just back from holiday and ready for the thick of it all. He dials in to his secretary to say, "Miriam--I want no phone calls today, you understand?? Under no circumstances shall I be answering any calls.. and NO interruptions... You got it!? NONE! WHATSOEVER!" ..and he slams the phone back in the cradle, blood pressure quickly rising, pops some stress-relievers, takes a seat at his work desk, and opens the book... The Fractal Geometry of Nature. Three weeks later his secretary finally gets the door open to his office by prying at the lock with her hairpin. She gasps! Turns her head and weeps.. the man had keeled over from dehydration and malnutrition, face down in The Fractal Geometry of Nature.

4 people found this helpful

A great insight into the world of fractals

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2010

Verified Purchase

This is a great book for someone looking to discover what all the hullabaloo is about fractals. It provides a wonderful insight into the mind of one of the great mathematical geniuses of our time, Benoit Mandelbrot. I think some people will find his writing style a bit too stodgy, almost arithmetical, but I find it interesting. I especially appreciate how marks off when he's going to be tangential with special brackets. Mandelbrot doesn't delve into too many rigorous mathematical proofs of the various topics he discusses. He broaches each subject in such a way that should be accessible to people from a wide array of sciences and disciplines. I don't recommend this book if you're trying to figure out how to create simple fractal programs. But I enthusiastically recommend it if you want to learn more about fractals, discover a new way to think about and understand nature, or are simply looking for a good bit of erudition.

6 people found this helpful

A treatise on fractals as a unifying phenomenon

Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2015

Verified Purchase

The magnum opus of a true genius. Within this book lies the legacy of a profound academic and perhaps the most rigorous and complete analysis of fractal geometries that has ever been created. It is a balanced look at fractal geometries that fills a niche for all levels of expertise. As a mathematical novice you can enjoy the pictures and narrative and as a master there is a trove of insight. If you are interested in how fractals are rife throughout nature and how these various geometries can be explained using Benoit's mathematics, this is the book for you.

12 people found this helpful

A great read for most

Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2011

Verified Purchase

Of course I love this book; I read it for the first time when I was just a young teen; now upon re-reading it, I realize how difficult so much of the mathematical material is. Of course, Mandelbrot wrote it and labeled it as an 'essay', thus intended for a wide variety of disciplines and backgrounds in order to reach a maximum audience, but his coining it as targeted for a 'broad' audience may have been referring to 'peers in similar fields' because despite all the math I took in college, much of the digressions in this book are lost on me. Still, so much of the content is accessible immediately through the written content and the visuals are unmistakably striking, especially for such old computer graphic technology. I would recommend this for anyone interested in the studies of fractal geometry, chaos theory, and turbulent dynamics.

12 people found this helpful

Kenneth R. Bolser

The book that popularized fractal geometry.

Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2013

Verified Purchase

For the general public, this book helped set in motion the concepts of, and the potential to understand natures' geometry. this book also gives the ground work for the potential fin art and illustration more reflective of the geometry of nature - and a new tool for the arts. The graphics are still inspiring. A must for anyone intetrested in the Mandelbrot set, fractal geometry and the forms that evolve from chaotic dynamics.

5 people found this helpful

Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2013

Verified Purchase

I entered fractals for the first time in the early 90s after a had read about them in a fantastic book called Excursions in Modern Mathematics.

I coded and created the Sirpinsky thereafter and have been hooked on the topic since.

I bought this book to undestand what the discoverer of fractals thought and have not been dissapointed. I am enjoying every page of it.

Buy it!

9 people found this helpful

Bought mine used and it was signed by the author ...

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2018

Verified Purchase

Bought mine used and it was signed by the author and contained what appears to be separate notes and letters on THINK letter heads from the same talking about his research at IBM. Very interesting stuff.

15 people found this helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Roberto Rigolin F Lopes

Natural anomalies within our aberrant universe

Reviewed in Germany on August 13, 2018

Verified Purchase

We are in 1982, Mandelbrot got a computer and is showing us the geometry nature has been using. Have a good look through that window. Euclid’s geometry works for human made stuff (before 3D printers) but fails with clouds, trees, your hair (in that reflection) and so on. Nature is ingenious using a blend of chance, scale and repetition creating regular irregularities here called fractals. Being a maverik, Mandelbrot introduced the fractal dimension assuming that “to see is to believe”. Lucky us. There are plenty of puzzling plots in this book. Some even defined as nondifferentiable monsters, say a snowflake (Koch’s monster). What a show! But Madelbrot’s erudition and eccentricity makes this book a fractal itself. Often diverging and sharing bits of history and biographical notes. But always discussing typical anomalies within our aberrant universe.

Customer image

Customer image

Customer image

Customer image

Customer image

Customer image

Berchiesi Gianfrancesco

Da una idea brillante ad una matematica complessa

Reviewed in Italy on June 14, 2018

Verified Purchase

L'idea di adattare la geometria classica alle forme più disparate è stata un'idea vincente. Da una idea semplice si è poi sviluppata una geometria che ha ovviamente le sue difficoltà e che necessita di una lettura e di una ri-lettura. Quello che più mi affascina è che questa teoria prevede il Caos.

Translate review to English

Adrian Murariu

I love it so much I will read 1million times

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 30, 2017

Verified Purchase

BUY IT, ITS AMAISING
If you are in any way considering doing anything with fractals, there's no reason to have other people's books and not this one .
This is one of the most important sources of understanding fractals, because it comes from the creator of the geometry itself .
I just got the book, It has a square aspect instead of a normal rectangular aspect.
I love it so much I will read 1million times.
There's cools drawings inside and all kinds of explanations , I'm so happy with this there's no words to describe .
Love to the author .

3 people found this helpful

jeremy whitehorn

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on May 18, 2015

Verified Purchase

Just what I wanted...

srl38

Excellent ouvrage sur les fractales

Reviewed in France on February 25, 2013

Verified Purchase

Ca faisait des années que je cherchais cet ouvrage et là je l'ai trouvais
Je le lis en ce moment

Translate review to English

See more reviews

Get to Know Us

Make Money with Us

Amazon Payment Products

Let Us Help You

English $USD - U.S. Dollar United States

© 1996-2024, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates