Mandelbrot Birthday Set

Meant to play this last year on Mandelbrot’s birthdays but forgot so I’m doing it early this year.  Unfortunately, Mandelbrot is in heaven and no longer teaching math at Yale.  But the set is still mesmerizing.

And here’s a little ditty on doodling in math class from Vi Hart, Mathemagician:

It’s easier after you’ve had coffee.

Happy Birthday to all you November babies.

Filler post: Countdown to 10,000,000!

While we’re waiting for the news…

We’re about 11,000 hits away from 10,000,000, Conflucians!  We should have a party.  Got any ideas?  Post them below.  Mine include: a radio show, cocktail party, fundraiser thingy.

I heard a very interesting podcast from the BBC History magazine for the month of November.  The first part had to do with Lincoln and the issue of slavery that lead to the Civil War.  It will give you a new perspective on Republicans, Democrats, Whigs, and a couple of other parties that were viable at the time, as well as a different take on which party was the one supporting entrepreneurial expansion in the west.  The second part is about the origins of Mischief Night, which, by the way, roughly corresponds to The Rally to Restore Sanity/Fear that Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert are throwing on the National Mall on October 30, 2010.  Coincidence?  Hmmm, I wonder.  Are they planning to soap the windows at the White House and festoon the cherry trees on the mall?  Sounds like fun!  I want to be there.

In case you hadn’t heard, Benoit Mandelbrot, mathematician estraordinaire discoverer of Chaos theory, the Mandelbrot Set and Fractal fame, died yesterday of pancreatic cancer.  Think of him the next time you see a butterfly, a feather or pick up a cauliflower in your produce department.

Here’s a musical tribute to Mandelbrot courtesy of Jonathan Coulton.  Yep, that was one badass f^&(ing fractal.

And here’s a piece on Nassim Taleb, author of The Black Swan, and Benoit Mandelbrot on the financial crisis of 2008.  Short take: They were scared $@!^less.