» The Colours of Infinity: The Beauty, The Power and the Sense of Fractals
The Colours of Infinity: The Beauty, The Power and the Sense of Fractals Details
Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 514.742
EAN: 9781904555056
ISBN: 1904555055
Label: Clear Books
Manufacturer: Clear Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 160
Publication Date: 2004-09-01
Publisher: Clear Books
Studio: Clear Books
Items related to The Colours of Infinity: The Beauty, The Power and the Sense of Fractals
The Colours of Infinity: The Beauty, The Power and the Sense of Fractals Reviews
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent for novices (like me). Beautiful for everyone
Comment: I agree with pretty much all the other reviewers here. As a novice to fractals (I am 50 years old, but never could get into math...), I found the book most satisfyingly informative without, as another reviewer put it, dumbing down the concepts. I also liked the anthology approach, with authors in different specialties writing the different chapters. Yes the DVD is of pretty poor quality (probably made worse by watching in on a high-rez monitor?), but it is more than 20 years old--and made for TV.
It should be emphasized that this book is NOT a reissue. It was produced specifically for the TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY of the video documentary's release. The book is, indeed, published in 2004 and the accompanying color plates are suitably gorgeous. I watched the DVD first and recommend other people new to fractals do so. Much of the book repeats or is an expansion of what's on the DVD, but rather than seeming repetitive, it made the topic more comfortably familiar to me as I got into reading the more scientifically specific explanations. The writers/interviewees were all impressively warm and personable as well as infectiously enthusiastic about their subject. Like Carl Sagan and astronomy, books like this are great PR for science and math. Live appearances by Arthur C. Clarke were particularly poignant, given that he just died last month.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Comment: The book and the DVD are truly amazing and beautiful. It has introduced me to a wonderful world which is a marriage of art and mathematics. The price is almost too low for such a masterpiece.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Colours of Enlightenment
Comment: Depending upon one's education, it is possible to gain either an art appreciation of the fractal geometry of the Mandelbott Set or a realization of how all life is ordered and the universe structured. Life most certainly would exist somewhere out there and it would resemble what we have here on Earth. While viewing it, I felt that this was at least fifty percent of the riddle of the universe explained in at least its basis. The other fifty percent would be what Stephen Hawkin called the other formulae that will reverse this one. He hopes we will find this one before it begins to act in its turn. That would mark the collapse of the universe and he seems to think that we might prevent that. But the collapse may be inevitable and part of the eternal operation of two formulae.
The Mystery remains; was this ordered and if so, by whom or what? We may never know, but for this devastating mystery, we have David Gilmour's compelling score to propel us along through an eternal race toward infinity.
My only complaint is that the film needs re-mastering so that the fractal geometry can be expressed better. Ironic that the documentary that defines the detail of the universe is so fuzzy! Also, there is a second section of fractal art expression on the DVD that will only play on a computer. That ought to be fixed. I think it is fitting that Arthur C. Clarke is the narrator for this film, so I hope this original can be cleaned up and not trashed for an updated version with all new presentation and cast.
This documentary should be shown in all high-school science classes. In fact, I think it ought to be shown to everyone regardless of partticipation in science curriculum because it also assists the refinement of questions like evolution and religion.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Amazing Fractals
Comment: What an illuminating, thought provoking book and dvd! I have watched it several times and each time it has opened my eyes more to the amazing possibilities in almost every aspect of our existance here on earth. And then who doesn't like David Gilmour's music ?
Customer Rating:
Summary: A great way to discover the colours of infinity
Comment: Just a perfect combination of top-level science outreach with the
fantastic music of David Gilmour.
It's a journey into the wonders of the fractal geometry explained in
a clear and easy-to-follow way.
Buy it now !!! You won't regret !!!
More Reviews for The Colours of Infinity: The Beauty, The Power and the Sense of Fractals
Editorial Review for The Colours of Infinity: The Beauty, The Power and the Sense of Fractals:
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.