Fractals: Images of Chaos by Hans Lauwerier, Penguin, pp 209, £9.99
pbk
On the cover the familiar penguin stands to attention in a dark corner
of Benoit Mandelbrot’s famous set. I prepare to sink back into a warm bath
of pretty computer graphics so chapter 4 takes me aback: ‘Fractals can be
defined as point-sets that are invariant under a semi-group of contractions.
This is a mathematical definition that needs explanation.’ So it does.
Hans Lauwerier proceeds to define his terms in dense mathematical notation
that is slightly unnerving in a paperback that is apparently aimed at the
mass market. It is a tribute to the pulling power of fractals that a book
such as this can appear.
I had to wait until chapter 7 for the more accessible topics of chaos,
Feigenbaum’s number and the Julia sets. Fractals works as a reference book,
but don’t even think of giving it to anyone who doesn’t already
