Fractals: A User's Guide for the Natural Sciences (Oxford Science Publications) - Softcover

Hastings, Harold M.; Sugihara, George

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0198545975 ISBN 13: 9780198545972

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1994

Synopsis

This insightful work explains Mandelbrot's fractal geometry and describes some of its most interesting applications. Fractal geometry exploits a characteristic property of the real world--self-similarity--to find simple rules for the assembly of complex natural objects. Beginning with the foundations of measurement in Euclidean geometry, the authors progress from analogues in the geometry of random fractals to applications spanning the natural sciences, including the developmental biology of neurons and pancreatic islets, fluctuations of bird populations, patterns in vegetative ecosystems, and even earthquake models. Written to enable students and researchers to master the methods of this timely subject, the book steers a middle course between the formality of many papers in mathematics and the informality of picture-orientated books on fractals. It is both a logically developed text and an essential "fractals for users" handbook. It is an essential resource for researchers and students in ecology, biology, applied mathematics, and plant and environmental sciences.

About this title

About the Author

Harold M. Hastings is at Hofstra College, Hempstead, New York. George Sugihara is at University of California, San Diego.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198545975
• ISBN 13: 9780198545972
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 248