Benoit Mandelbrot, RIP

Laughing Squid reports, via John Brockman's twitter feed and Nassim Nicholas Taleb's website, that the father of fractal geometry has moved to a different fractional dimension.

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By Torbjörn Lars… (not verified) on 15 Oct 2010 #permalink

It was my privilege back in the 1980s to interview both Benoit Mandelbrot and Martin Gardner for articles in the College Math Journal. Mandelbrot was more than happy to participate. His personal story was not yet widely known though fractals had become famous and their images decorated the walls of computer centers and the dorm rooms of math and science students. I got to meet him once at a math conference and he was an overwhelming presence. Mandelbrot was as sure of himself as he could be and his confidence was probably justified. His place in the mathematical panetheon is secure.

The Mandelbrot interview I conducted is posted on Yale's website.