Author(s): Benoit B. Mandelbrot & Richard L. Hudson

Business

Benoit Mandelbrot, father of fractal geometry, revolutionized our understanding of the models of modern financial theory. This new edition includes material on the current market crisis, calling for an end to the tunnel vision of our bankers whose over-confidence in their understanding of markets ended in catastrophe.This international bestseller, which foreshadowed a market crash, explains why it could happen again if we don't act now. Fractal geometry is the mathematics of roughness: how to reduce the outline of a jagged leaf or static in a computer connection to a few simple mathematical properties. With his fractal tools, Mandelbrot has got to the bottom of how financial markets really work. He finds they have a shifting sense of time and wild behavior that makes them volatile, dangerous - and beautiful. In his models, the complex gyrations of the FTSE 100 and exchange rates can be reduced to straightforward formulae that yield a much more accurate description of the risks involved. Review: 'Mandelbrot is acknowledged as the father of chaos theory... he is, simply, very clever indeed.' - Sunday Telegraph'The reader gets a clear picture of the history of finance theory... the best financial read.' - Financial Times'Entertainingly written... this book is a brain-opener that adds hugely to our sum of knowledge.' - Director Author Biography: Benoit Mandelbrot is Sterling Professor of Mathematical Sciences at Yale University. Richard L. Hudson is a former managing editor of Wall Street Journal Europe. First published 2004; this revised edition 2008.