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If you like Fractals, you will love The Colours of Infinity

 
 
Reply Sun 4 Dec, 2005 10:03 am
I sending this book to my son for Christmas. He likes Fractals as much as I do. There is a dvd of The Colours of Infinity, but I've not been able to find a source to buy it separately yet. ---BBB

The Colours of Infinity: The Beauty, and Power of Fractals (Paperback)

by Ian Stewart (Contributor), Arthur C. Clarke (Contributor), Benoit Mandelbrot (Contributor), Michael Barnsley (Contributor), Louisa Barnsley (Contributor), Will Rood (Contributor), Gary Flake (Contributor), David Pennock (Contributor), Robert R., Jr. Prechter (Contributor), Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon (Contributor)

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

Benoit Mandelbrot discovered what is now called the M-Set in the early seventies and coined the term ?'fractal' to describe the geometry behind it. The power and the beauty of fractals were only capable of being seen with the advent of computers, which become psychedelic windows on the infinite when using simple fractal equations.

In 1992 Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon made the TV documentary, The Colors of Infinity about the Mandelbrot Set and fractals, which has since been seen right round the world. Nigel's enthusiasm brought together a dream team of contributors for the film who all now contribute to the book tracking how fractals have developed since the film was made. Sir Arthur C Clarke presented the film and in the book gives a lucidly simple account of the mathematics of the M-Set. Benoit Mandelbrot, the Belgian mathematician explains how it began. Professor Michael Barnsley, the computer graphics researcher who developed fractal image compression technology, explains the applications of the breakthroughs. Professor Ian Stewart, author of Does God Play Dice? adds his insights into the beautifully simple equation that gives birth to fractals.

Two of the most interesting applications of fractal geometry, reflected by the two new contributors to the book, are to the Internet and to the Stock Market. Dr Gary Flake, Chief Technology Officer at Overture, the leading provider of commercial search on the Internet and just taken over by Yahoo for 1.6 billion dollars, discusses the profoundly fractal nature of the Web in his article: The Self-ish Web. Robert Prechter Jr is President of Elliott Wave International, Inc. and founder of the Socionomics Institute. His latest title is Socionomics: The Science of History and Social Prediction (2003). He writes about how fractals can help us understand the oscillations of stock markets.

In the back of the book is a DVD of the original documentary with soundtrack by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd PLUS a 30-minute fractal animation to the music of members of Quintessence.

About the Author

Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon has published poems and short stories in the UK, the US, and France. He formed his first film production company in 1976, and worked for Donovan, Pink Floyd, 10cc, Joe Cocker, Wings, and Leo Sayer. Gordon Films UK was formed in 1995 to produce the award-winning television documentary "The Colours of Infinity". His first book was "Introducing Fractal Geometry".


FRACTAL PHOTOS:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-images/1904555055/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_all/103-9427771-1553451?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=dvd#gallery

The Mandelbrot Set, the basis for the Fractals in this book:
http://www.math.utah.edu/~alfeld/math/mandelbrot/mandelbrot.html

BBB
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echi
 
  1  
Reply Sun 4 Dec, 2005 02:30 pm
BumbleBeeBoogie

I am very interested in fractals and the M-set, in particular. Do you know where I might find some insight into the complex plane...how to interpret the complex plane? I don't have any great knowledge of mathematics, but I usually can pick up on theoretical ideas without too much trouble.
Thank You
0 Replies
 
BumbleBeeBoogie
 
  1  
Reply Mon 5 Dec, 2005 09:19 am
echi
echi wrote:
BumbleBeeBoogie

I am very interested in fractals and the M-set, in particular. Do you know where I might find some insight into the complex plane...how to interpret the complex plane? I don't have any great knowledge of mathematics, but I usually can pick up on theoretical ideas without too much trouble.
Thank You


echi

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0716711869/ref=dp_image_text_0/103-9427771-1553451?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=283155&s=books

There are several books that might help you. One is

The Fractal Geometry of Nature (Hardcover)
by Benoit B. Mandelbrot

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

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

About the Author

Benoit Mandelbrot is the Abraham Robinson Professor of Mathematical Sciences at Yale University and IBM Fellow Emeritus at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center.
----------------------------------------------------

Another book is:

Creating Fractals (Graphics Series) (Paperback)
by Roger Stevens

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

Everything You?ll Need to Create Thousands of Fractals! Fractals are the name given to certain types of iterated equations that produce very strange results and are capable of creating unusual and beautiful patterns. Creating Fractals describes the characteristics and mathematical background of fractals and shows the reader how the accompanying fractal-generating program is used to produce thousands of different kinds of fractals, to enlarge them, to color them, and to save them?without any knowledge of computers or programming. The program works with any computer using Windows. In addition to producing artistic effects, the reader can gain an understanding of how each type of fractal is created and how it might be used to treat natural phenomena, e.g., the turbulence of liquids, the behavior of the stock market, and the compression of graphic images. Mathematical terminology is explained in elementary terms.

About the Author

Stevens is a veteran graphics programmer and author of several books, including Graphics Programming with JAVA, 2E. He holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and resides in New Mexico.

BBB
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echi
 
  1  
Reply Mon 5 Dec, 2005 11:33 am
Thank You.

I will try to pick these up today.

When I learned about the M-set I was fascinated and then for longest time have been frustrated.

I feel that if I could interpret and understand the complex plane, I could then somehow apply it to my understanding of the "real" world.

I appreciate the information. Thanks, again.
0 Replies
 
BumbleBeeBoogie
 
  1  
Reply Mon 5 Dec, 2005 02:09 pm
echi
echi, you're welcome; glad to help you out.

You might want to keep other A2K members, who also have an interest in Fractals, aware of what you learn from these books. And certainly post any photos of any creations you make for us.

BBB
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