'Fractal' mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot dies aged 85Mandelbrot saw that apparently random shapes followed patterns Benoit Mandelbrot, who discovered mathematical shapes known as fractals, has died of cancer at the age of 85. Mandelbrot, who had joint French and US nationality, developed fractals as a mathematical way of understanding the infinite complexity of nature. The concept has been used to measure coastlines, clouds and other natural phenome
