[Flipside]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11560101

Benoit Mandelbrot dies at 85 of cancer. It's amazing, when you think back, just how much impact this man had on our view of the Universe around us.

[The E]

Obligatory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIlwFpz9s_I

[Thaeris]

This is a sad bit of news. Even more depressing is that you'll probably never hear a spot on him on one of the major US news networks, either. Things and people that matter aren't important enough to inform the populace, you know... 

Anyway, his accent isn't helped by the fact that he was working on in his years in this video, but here is the great man himself on TED:

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/benoit_mandelbrot_fractals_the_art_of_roughness.html

Sleep well, Sir, sleep well.

[General Battuta]

One of my favorite novels as a younger chap was about a woman who was looking for her dead daughter in the Mandelbrot set. Decent times.

This is a sad bit of news. Even more depressing is that you'll probably never hear a spot on him on one of the major US news networks, either. Things and people that matter aren't important enough to inform the populace, you know...

Don't be a moron, his death was right there in the NYT. And if you try to get your news by TV you deserve what you get.

[Polpolion]

This is a sad bit of news. Even more depressing is that you'll probably never hear a spot on him on one of the major US news networks, either. Things and people that matter aren't important enough to inform the populace, you know... 

Silly Thaeris! Stuff doesn't get put on the news because it's important!

[Mongoose]

Man, we had an old version of Microsoft Encarta that had an interactive zoom into the Mandelbrot set.  I didn't even completely understand what fractals were at that age, but I was fascinated by its appearance.  He was definitely a very great mind.

[iamzack]

I used to have a neat fractal program, but I lost it. I liked making pretty pictures with it.

Unfortunately, I was also an emo little 12 year old. :<

[Titan]

Unfortunately, I was also an emo little 12 year old. :<

So... what does that make you now?

[iamzack]

emo little 19 year old

[ssmit132]

Man, we had an old version of Microsoft Encarta that had an interactive zoom into the Mandelbrot set.  I didn't even completely understand what fractals were at that age, but I was fascinated by its appearance.  He was definitely a very great mind.

We had to do a whole assignment on the Mandlebrot set in year 11 Maths C. Most of the class found it annoying, but I thought it was all right. Our head of department for Maths was (and still is) infatuated with the Mandlebrot set. I wonder if she knows...