This book changed my life. I was an awful mathematics student in high school, but having a very lukewarm interest in an artistic career I decided to take maths as an advanced subject so that I might pursue architecture or something. I ended up getting a U in my maths exams, which in the British grade system stands for “Unmarked”. I did so poorly that my paper wasn’t even worthy of a mark!
Around the same time, I was wandering around the I saw a book cover with the weirdest, most beautiful looking graphics I’d ever seen. I still remember thinking “What the hell is that supposed to be?” as I picked it up. The copy I held had a colored picture segment as the middle pages with crisper, more mindblowing images. I borrowed the book and started reading it, trying to figure out how those images were drawn.
Long story short, I ended up becoming quite competent at mathematics. Fractals (albeit statistical ones) actually ended up being an important topic in my doctoral research. I sometimes wonder what my life might have been like if I hadn’t seen those weird images - I’d certainly have become a very mediocre architect at best.
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