RIP: Benoit Mandelbrot, b. 1924 - d. 2010

[myoung]

A sad day for me and for others who admired his inveterate quirkiness and his uncanny ability to "think outside the box."

I never met Dr. Mandelbrot, but we had about a dozen phone conversations over the past 15 years. He liked my research and appreciated that his work on cotton prices inspired me to challenge conventional wisdom in my field of real estate.

In our last conversation, after mentioning that I was updating some old work, I asked him whether to employ newer technology or simply to extend the earlier work with the same technology used back in 1995.

As was often the case, he related a story. This time it concerned a mentor whom he described as a genius and aviation pioneer who received little recognition for his work. Why? Well, it seemed that this man never was satisfied with his aircraft designs, always knowing that he could do something better. As a consequence of his endless quest for perfection, the man never saw his airplane fly.

Dr. Mandelbrot's advice to me was "Just get the plane to fly. Then, others will know what can be refined."

I will miss his sage counsel.

[High Desert]

Mike, though I am not familiar with the gentleman I really like his advice. Thank you for sharing it. My condolences on his passing.

[mezmo]

Sorry to hear of the loss of your friend Mike.

Was he connected to the discovery of fractals ? Or
did he just share the same last name ?

Norm/mezmo

[myoung]

Was he connected to the discovery of fractals ?

Benoit Mandelbrot coined the word "fractals" and invented the field of fractal geometry. That was just a tiny but significant part of his contribution to science. His reach extended into mathematics, information science, climatology, biology, finance, and cartography. I'm probably leaving out a dozen or so other fields in which he had published or lectured.

When at IBM, he suggested the proper way to deal with noise that plagues data transmissions. Instead of boosting the signal strength, you take noise as a given, check to see when it happens, and retransmit the erroneous packet. It would be fair to say that the internet would not exist in its present form and capacity without the insight of Dr. Mandelbrot.

If anyone would like more insight into his life and work, there are obit on the web. Here is one from the NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/us/17mandelbrot.html

[BILLYL]

Was he connected to the discovery of fractals ?

Benoit Mandelbrot coined the word "fractals" and invented the field of fractal geometry. That was just a tiny but significant part of his contribution to science. His reach extended into mathematics, information science, climatology, biology, finance, and cartography. I'm probably leaving out a dozen or so other fields in which he had published or lectured.

When at IBM, he suggested the proper way to deal with noise that plagues data transmissions. Instead of boosting the signal strength, you take noise as a given, check to see when it happens, and retransmit the erroneous packet. It would be fair to say that the internet would not exist in its present form and capacity without the insight of Dr. Mandelbrot.

If anyone would like more insight into his life and work, there are obit on the web. Here is one from the NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/us/17mandelbrot.html

They just had his obit in the Washington Post today. He must have been a very interesting person to be friends with. Just having him available to talk with would make for a very interesting conversation.

Bill

[myoung]

He must have been a very interesting person to be friends with. Just having him available to talk with would make for a very interesting conversation.

It's hard to describe how much fun it was to have a conversation with Dr. Mandelbrot.

Once, we were chatting about some subject on which we held different, strong views. I can't remember the subject but I do remember what happened next. He abruptly ended the conversation in a mock huff and hung up. A few minutes later he called back to say that he had gone next door to consult a Yale colleague about whether or not I had insulted him. The colleague said no, so Dr. Mandelbrot called me back to continue our conversation happy that I had not offended him. That's quirky.

[BILLYL]

He must have been a very interesting person to be friends with. Just having him available to talk with would make for a very interesting conversation.

It's hard to describe how much fun it was to have a conversation with Dr. Mandelbrot.

Once, we were chatting about some subject on which we held different, strong views. I can't remember the subject but I do remember what happened next. He abruptly ended the conversation in a mock huff and hung up. A few minutes later he called back to say that he had gone next door to consult a Yale colleague about whether or not I had insulted him. The colleague said no, so Dr. Mandelbrot called me back to continue our conversation happy that I had not offended him. That's quirky.

There you go - a true friend - but I wonder why a Yaley ?

[Fenlason]

He must have been a very interesting person to be friends with. Just having him available to talk with would make for a very interesting conversation.

It's hard to describe how much fun it was to have a conversation with Dr. Mandelbrot.

Once, we were chatting about some subject on which we held different, strong views. I can't remember the subject but I do remember what happened next. He abruptly ended the conversation in a mock huff and hung up. A few minutes later he called back to say that he had gone next door to consult a Yale colleague about whether or not I had insulted him. The colleague said no, so Dr. Mandelbrot called me back to continue our conversation happy that I had not offended him. That's quirky.

wow! it had to have been cool to know him.

I did recognize the name.

sorry he is gone..

[mandy]

He was a very interesting guy. I saw a special on Nova/PBS about him.
RIP.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/mandelbrot-fractal.html

[TheBizMan]

You never know who you are rubbing sholders with. I know Mike Young and he knew Dr. Mandelbrot. Very Cool!

[teardrop_focus]

My condolences, Mike.

[mezmo]

Hey Mandy,

Thanks for the link. It was an interesting read.

Norm/mezmo

[Cliffmeister2000]

Very interersting man, and subject. Mike, what a pleasure it must have been to have known him, and it speaks volumes that you were able to converse with him without fear of tasting your own shoe leather!

I always considered Fractal Geometry to be the math that is used to explain an LSD trip.

[myoung]

Very interersting man, and subject. Mike, what a pleasure it must have been to have known him, and it speaks volumes that you were able to converse with him without fear of tasting your own shoe leather!

I've been very fortunate to have had mentors and teachers, including several Nobel laureates and others who should have been, who had as their common characteristics an ease of conversing and willingness to share their knowledge and experiences with their students. I think they too profited from the exchange, or at least I'd like to think so.

I've never found these men of genius difficult to approach. Teachers with less confidence in themselves are infinitely more unapproachable.

Benoit Mandelbrot coupled those good attributes with a sense of humor second to none.