Benoit Mandelbrot has passed away, but his contribution to this world will remain an enduring legacy. Our local paper, The Age, ran an article as Father of fractal geometry dies .
I owe a lot to Benoit Mandelbrot. His Mandelbrot Set graphical representation of the formula Z(n+1) = Z(n)^2 + c iterated until it hit a threshold of 4.0 produced amazing images. It hooked me on computer graphics and the first full blown Windows program I ever wrote with Embarcadero C++ Builder created Mandelbrots as they are known. Here is an example produced by that program:
This is the area centred on X = -1.141690745, Y = 0.000157485 and Width = 0.0066459 with a maximum of 256 iterations. The colours change according to the number of iterations it takes to reach or exceed 4.0 in magnitude.
If anyone wants a copy of the program, I am happy to give it away. Just leave a comment and ask for it.
It is amazing how far a single person’s influence can go and I am very grateful for having been influenced to get involved and interested in computer graphics.
The bio page from TED Talks provides some details of Benoit Mandelbrot‘s life.
Ray Keefe has been developing high quality and market leading electronics and embedded software products in Australia for nearly 30 years. For more information go to his LinkedIn profile. This post is Copyright © Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd.
I’m sure you must have loved the lecture he gave at the TED conference. Here is the link again: https://www.ted.com/talks/benoit_mandelbrot_fractals_and_the_art_of_roughness?language=en
Hi Jagmeet,
That was indeed an excellent lecture. Thanks you for posting the link here for us all.
Ray Keefe
Yes, Jag- that was a great link. Thanks for sharing. It is always hard to see mentors and heroes pass on, but it is our job to carry on the flame. You are doing a lovely job of that, so keep it up. We are watching and supporting you!