Benoit Mandelbrot

20 November 1924 – 14 October 2010

Benoit Mandelbrot was a Polish-born French-American mathematician best known for developing the field of fractal geometry and coining the term 'fractal'. His study of roughness and self-similarity in nature, exemplified by the Mandelbrot set, influenced fields ranging from physics and finance to computer graphics.

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Life events

Born in Warsaw, Poland
20 November 1924

Benoit Mandelbrot was born into a Lithuanian Jewish family in Warsaw.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Family emigrated to France
1936

Mandelbrot's family moved to Paris in 1936 to escape the deteriorating situation in Poland.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Doctorate from the University of Paris
1952

Mandelbrot earned his PhD in mathematical sciences from the University of Paris.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Joined IBM Research
1958

Mandelbrot became a research fellow at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center, where he pursued much of his pioneering work.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Coined the term 'fractal'
1975

Mandelbrot introduced the word 'fractal' to describe irregular, self-similar geometric shapes.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Published The Fractal Geometry of Nature
1982

Mandelbrot's influential book popularized fractal geometry and the Mandelbrot set.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Became Sterling Professor at Yale University
1987

Mandelbrot joined Yale, where he later became Sterling Professor of Mathematical Sciences.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Awarded the Wolf Prize in Physics
1993

Mandelbrot received the Wolf Prize for transforming our view of nature through fractal geometry.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Died in Cambridge, Massachusetts
14 October 2010

Mandelbrot died of pancreatic cancer.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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