Benoît Mandelbrot Books

Set in the early 1960s at IBM's research facility, the narrative highlights the innovative environment fostered by brilliant minds, particularly Benoit Mandelbrot. His unconventional ideas challenged traditional mathematical concepts, emphasizing the significance of distributions with infinite second moments. This perspective paved the way for the development of fractals, suggesting that complex aspects of the physical world could be understood through models with fractional dimensions. The account reflects both personal interactions and groundbreaking intellectual exchanges among prominent researchers.

A groundbreaking mathematician presents a new model for understanding financial marketsBenoit B. Mandelbrot is world-famous for inventing fractal geometry, making mathematical sense of a fact everybody knows but that geometers from Euclid on down had never Clouds are not round, mountains are not cones, coastlines are not smooth. To these insights we can now add another Markets are not the safe bet your broker may claim.Mandelbrot, with co-author Richard L. Hudson, shows how the dominant way of thinking about the behavior of markets--a set of mathematical assumptions a century old and still learned by every MBA and financier in the world--simply does not work. He uses fractal geometry to propose a new, more accurate way of describing market behavior. From the gyrations of the Dow to the dollar-euro exchange rate, Mandlebrot shows how to understand the volatility of markets in far more accurate terms than the failed theories that have repeatedly brought the financial system to the brink of disaster. The result is no less than the foundation for a new science of finance. 

Mandelbrot is world famous for his creation of the new mathematics of fractal geometry. Yet few people know that his original field of applied research was in econometrics and financial models, applying ideas of scaling and self-similarity to arrays of data generated by financial analyses. This book brings together his original papers as well as many original chapters specifically written for this book.

Exploring the intricate relationship between turbulence and finance, Benoit Mandelbrot highlights the inadequacy of traditional statistical methods to capture their inherent variability. He argues for a new understanding of indeterminism, suggesting that innovative mathematical tools are essential for advancing the study of these complex phenomena. This Selecta volume compiles his influential papers, showcasing his groundbreaking work in developing methodologies that address the unique challenges presented by the "wildness" of financial and turbulent systems.

Here is the remarkable life story of Benoit Mandelbrot, the creator of fractal geometry, and his unparalleled contributions to science mathematics, the financial world, and the arts. Mandelbrot recounts his early years in Warsaw and in Paris, where he was mentored by an eminent mathematician uncle, through his days evading the Nazis in occupied France, to his education at Caltech, Princeton, and MIT, and his illustrious career at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center. An outside to mainstream scientific research, he managed to do what others had thought impossible: develop a new geometry that combines revelatory beauty with a radical way of unfolding formerly hidden scientific laws. In the process he was able to use geometry to solve fresh, real-world problems. With exuberance and an eloquent fluency, Benoit Mandelbrot recounts the high points of his fascinating life, offering us a glimpse into the evolution of his extraordinary mind. With full-color inserts and black-and-white photographs throughout.