The Colours of Infinity by Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon, Ian Stewart, Benoit Mandelbrot and others, Clear Books, 拢19.95/$29.95, ISBN 1904555055 Reviewed by Kenneth Falconer
FRACTALS are everywhere around us 鈥� in the shapes of clouds, mountains, trees and plants, on land, in the sea and in space, to say nothing of their occurrence throughout mathematics and science. In 1995 a landmark hour-long documentary, The Colours of Infinity, was televised in more than 50 countries. It brought the beauty and omnipresence of fractals to the public eye. Presented by Arthur C. Clarke and featuring leaders in the field, Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon鈥檚 production set new standards in graphics and animation.
This profusely illustrated book celebrates the 10th anniversary of the making of the documentary, with eight essay-like chapters by distinguished authors. Several of these add detail to topics introduced in the film, and a couple of them update us on applications hinted at in the film that have since come to prominence: the fractality of stock market prices and the self-similarity of the World Wide Web. You also get the text of the film, and a chapter on its genesis and production.
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Individually these essays are excellent, but collectively they lack coherence. Indeed it puzzles me who the authors are writing for. The technical level varies considerably, and some topics recur in several essays with confusingly differing notation. A keen newcomer will be inspired by the overviews of mathematicians Ian Stewart and Benoit Mandelbrot but may find some other chapters less appealing.
Crucially, the book comes with a DVD of the documentary itself, still probably the best introduction to the fractal concept. Every aspiring young scientist should see it; indeed so should anyone with a curiosity about their real and virtual environments. Watch the film, then dip into the book.