1924-

Polish-born French Mathematician

Polish-born French mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot is widely acclaimed as one of the founding fathers of fractal geometry. Educated in France, Mandelbrot shunned the prevailing French emphasis on pure mathematics to take and early and strong interest in applied mathematics.

Due to the Second World War, Mandelbrot's education was, at times, sporadic. In many academic areas, including some mathematical subjects, he was self-taught. This reliance on his own ability to investigate and prove mathematical concepts lead him to construct geometrical proofs. Mandelbrot often credits these formative years as a source of stimulus and necessity that helped him develop his capacity for geometric thought and his geometrical approach to mathematics.

Mandelbrot eventually studied at the Ecole Polytechnique. After obtaining his doctorate, he took on academic posts at the California Institute of Technology and at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study. In 1955, for a...