A Brief History of Fractals

Before fractals got their name, many curious mathematical sets that we have come to recognize as "Fractal", were known and studied. The science really started in the late 19th and early 20th century. Many people pioneered the field and made critical advances that made future work possible. These were all great mathematicians of their day and contributed much more to mathematics than is mentioned here. I merely hint at the contributions they made to the pre-nascent field of Fractals. I apologize for errors of omission and of chronological order. This is not meant as a complete or accurate history, but merely a brief salute to those who have come before.

I make extensive reference to The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive for my historical links on these pages. I extend greatful thanks to them for extending such a useful online information source.

Georg Ferdinand Ludwig Philipp Cantor
                    Born: 3 March 1845 in St Petersburg, Russia
                    Died: 6 Jan 1918 in Halle, Germany
 Sample  Contribution: The Cantor Set (Possibly the first fractal object studied)
 

Jules Henri Poincaré
                    Born: 29 April 1854 in Nancy, Lorraine, France
                    Died: 17 July 1912 in Paris, France
 Sample Contribution: Poincaré Sections
 

Niels Fabian Helge von Koch
                    Born: 25 Jan 1870 in Stockholm, Sweden
                    Died: 11 March 1924 in Danderyd, Stockholm, Sweden
 Sample Contribution: Koch "Snowflake " Curve
 

David Hilbert
                     Born: 23 Jan 1862 in Königsberg, Prussia
                     Died: 14 Feb 1943 in Göttingen, Germany
 Sample Contribution: Hilbert Curve
 

Giuseppe Peano
                    Born: 27 Aug 1858 in Cuneo, Piemonte, Italy
                    Died: 20 April 1932 in Turin, Italy
 Sample Contribution: Peano Curve
 

Ernesto Cesàro
                    Born: 12 March 1859 in Naples, Italy
                    Died: 12 Sept 1906 in Torre Annunziata, Italy

 Sample Contribution: Cesàro Curve
 

Waclaw Sierpinski
                    Born: 14 March 1882 in Warsaw, Poland
                    Died: 21 Oct 1969 in Warsaw, Poland
 Sample Contribution: Sierpinski Curves
 

Gaston Maurice Julia
                      Born: 3 Feb. 1893 in Sidi Bel Abbès, Algeria
                      Died: 19 March 1978 in Paris, France
 Sample Contribution: Julia Sets
 

Pierre Joseph Louis Fatou

                   Born: 28 Feb 1878 in Lorient, France
                   Died: 10 Aug 1929 in Pornichet, France
Sample Contribution: Studies of Iteration and paralleled Gaston Julia's  work on Julia Sets.
 

Benoit Mandelbrot
                    Born: 20 Nov 1924 in Warsaw, Poland

Widely recognized as the one who defined the science of Fractal
Mathematics and the discoverer of the "Mandelbrot Set",
which bears his name. His work was first elaborated in his book,
"Les objets fractals, forn, hasard et dimension", (1975)
and more fully in "The Fractal Geometry of Nature", in 1982.

Sample Contribution: The Mandelbrot Set

Continue