MANDELBROT THE MAGNIFICENT is an intriguing, well-written and well-conceived "pseudo-biography" of Benoit Mandelbrot. I wasn't familiar with the real-world Mandelbrot before reading this book, so I can't comment too much on how clever the "pseudo" part of the biography is. It's a fantastical novel, with well-written characters, some intriguing magical realism thrown into the mix, and a very good evocation of the times, and what it must have felt like in the shadow of Hitler's rise.

Recommended.

I gotta say that even if you are not a maths geek, this books is very, very etertaining. Thrilling and page turner. Quite a surprise. I would like to keep reading more of Liz Ziemska. This was a great debut.

Interesting and creative novella/short story. I enjoyed it a lot.
A short read that I would recommend to my peers and some of my students.

Arc provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

To be magnificent at something during the worst time in history is scary, to say the least. Mandelbrot the Magnificent was a hard read for me. Not only the fact that it was at the time of what would be the least accepting time of genius, but also because I've had family fleeing into another country to avoid the hatred, the realities of war. I appreciate Liz Ziemska's short story on Benoit and his families journey. It was succinct, filled with humanity and just simply a good read. I wouldn't want it any longer. If you love a good WWII novel, where history isn't rewritten to be something it's not, you will enjoy this book. It's up there for me with Sarah's Key.

This is a short story There are some definite pros and cons in Liz Ziemska's short story about Mandelbrot, a real-life mathematician.

Pros
I really love how short and succulent this story is. It's primary focus is not necessarily on Mandelbrot learning difficult math concepts; as it is on his family's journey to avoid persecution as Jews during WWII.
The journey from Poland to France, while condensed into a few sentences, is intriguing if only because Mandelbrot's family was just ahead of the Nazi's the majority of the time. I enjoyed seeing the different, if difficult, options in front of them as the family was split up in order to try and keep everyone safe.
I was not familiar with the Sefirot and found the explanation in Mandelbrot the Magnificient sent me to Google to learn more. In historical pieces there are few things I love more than a drive to find out the 'truer than true' version of something. And yet I have to wonder where the Serifot fits into true mathematics (if at all) today.

Cons
Mathematics is a truly beautiful language all it's own. For those of us, like myself, that are intrigued by complex physics, chemistry and mathematics but unable to truly comprehend them it's always great to read a book that breaks concepts down or tries to teach you basic theories at a non-academic level.
In Mandelbrot the Magnificent there are two downfalls with this approach:
1) The imagery and concepts of complex mathematics are made into too much magic. As though you just be a magician to understand. While perhaps this isn't a bad comparison it made me wonder what was true in the story and what wasn't. How did Mandelbrot protect people? Obviously wasn't true magic as this is a true story and so something about his understanding of mathematics benefited his family when the Nazi's came knocking. But because the descriptions and explanation are so founded in some sort of magic I am at a loss to explain any part of the theories or ideas that were used.
2) There are lots of pretty mathematic graphics in this book but few actual descriptions of the complex problems. Now this might be because the Ziemska didn't want to focus too much on the math aspect and instead wanted us to feel math as a part of our organic existence. While I understand and get that it would have been nice to have maybe learned something new and a bit more complex instead of just naming theories I know of but still can't even begin to explain.

Overall
Given the small amount of time invested into reading Mandelbrot the Magnificent it's clear to me it's worth a read if you have any interest.
I could have skipped it and been content with my life knowing what I know now about this story. What I really want is someone to read an interesting, compelling and factually accurate story of Mandelbrot and his true contributions to the scientific community.
However, if Ziemska has given us the only insight currently available at a non-math reading level into Mandelbrot's tumultuous childhood and fractal theories than, without a doubt, Mandlebrot the Magnificent will at least whet any appetites that may lead you into the truly monstrous world of science.

<I>Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via Net Galley. This is an honest and unbiased review.</I>

Benoit Mandelbrot was born in Warsaw, Poland in the 1920's. His father, a tailor, descended from a long line of Talmudic scholars and his mother was a dentist. Uncle Szolem was a mathematics professor. Szolem shared his love of math, especially Kepler's ellipses, with the youngster who stated that when he grew up he wanted to make a simple discovery of something no one else thought of.

The political climate and threat of war in 1936 caused the Polish Jewish family to seek safe haven in Paris, then later in the town of Tulle. Foreigners living in France were not afforded the same protections as French-born citizens. Mandelbrot found refuge in math, however classmate Emile Vallant was a thorn in his side. As the Germans invaded France, Mandelbrot was determined to hide his family by mathematically embellishing the Hausdorff Dimension, a new dimension that went "inward" instead of "outward".

"Mandelbrot the Magnificent" by Liz Ziemska is a historical, mathematical, fantastical novella. What was fact? What was fiction? Engrossing and with magical realism, the story of Mandelbrot, the father of fractals, unfolds.

"A fractal is a way of seeing infinity" - Mandelbrot

Author Ziemska has created a World War II tome of Jewish mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot and the factors that arguably shaped his foray into higher mathematics. An excellent read!

Thank you Macmillan-Tor/Forge and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Mandelbrot the Magnificent".

'Mandelbrot the Magnificent' by Liz Ziemska is an imaginary biographical tale of Benoit Mandelbrot and his life during World War II.

Mandelbrot was born in the Warsaw ghetto during a particularly bad time in history. His family fled to France, and, as a young Jew, he wasn't very welcome there either. He escaped into the world of mathematics. There he chased the monstrous equations. He finds a unique ability in them, along with some of the power of magical realism, and he might find a way to escape the horrors of the world around him, but at what cost?

There is truth, there is magic and this a pretty great little story that combines the two. There is the faith and arrogance of youth, and a love of mathematics. Included in the book are some formulae as well as a couple of the fractal designs that Mandelbrot is famous for. I really loved this book.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Macmillan-Tor/Forge, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

A fantastical story starring a very real mathematician. This short novella is an absolute gem and one that should get way more attention and hype!

Mathematics, magic based in fractals, World War II (alternate) history, Mandelbrot biography… everything mixed in the right amount to make this book an engaging and original novella perfect to read in one seating.
I'll definitely include it in my next Recommended Reading post.

"Logic sometimes makes monsters"

* * *
3 / 5

Occasionally I will dive into a biography of a philosopher or a mathematician. When I do, I like to get a feel for the real person - perhaps via the inclusion of letters that they wrote, or excerpts from interviews, or real conversations - but to also get a sense of the feelings of the author. Mandelbrot the Magnificent was peculiar; it was an easy, engaging read, but I was never quite sure what was truth and fact and what was embellishment on the part of Ziemska.

"the only shame is in humanity's unquenchable desire to destroy itself"

The background of the book is true enough. Born in Poland and Jewish, growing up against the outset of World War II, Benoit Mandelbrot fled to France with his family: his brother Leon, his tailor father, and dentist mother. They lived with his uncle, a mathematician in his own right, who served as Mandelbrot's inspiration, telling him stories of Kepler and other famous mathematicians. But it was a dangerous time for a young Jewish boy to become notable for his mathematical skill.

Woven into this historical fact are threads that I presume are of Ziemska's invention: a young boy at Mandelbrot's school who is equally gifted in mathematics yet hates him; a book, The Book of Monsters, which sets Mandelbrot on the path of abstract geometry; the hiding of his family from the Gestapo using Hausdorff dimension and Koch snowflakes. In a way, I adored this book, but in another I was constantly pulled out of illusion this book casts with thoughts of "is this what the real Mandelbrot was like?". I got very little insight into the real man and his discoveries in fractal geometry, in information theory. It begins as a memoir but shifts, slowly but surely, into the realm of the magical (I had to reread several paragraphs properly grasp what Ziemska was doing) and the religious.

Mandelbrot the Magnificient was peculiar and innovative and definitely a special book; it just isn't quite what I expected. One should approach this book as a magical realism novel, a foray into alternate history, set against the backdrop of a real man.

Es sorprendente lograr en apenas un puñado de páginas hablar sobre todos los temas que habla Liz Ziemska en Mandelbrot the Magnificient, aunque mi visión preferida es pensar cómo refleja la magia de las matemáticas.

La autora narra una autobiografía fictica escrita por el propio Mandelbrot que, ya anciano, rememora su infancia inmerso en la segunda guerra mundial. Las creencias judías de su familia y la experiencia previa de su madre en el guetto de Varsovia les permiten prever la situación de peligro extremo en que los sitúa la subida de Hitler al poder y huyen a Francia anticipándose a la invasión de su país. La situación en París, no obstante, sigue siendo peligrosa y consiguen irse a otro municipio francés buscando el anonimato.

Aunque el contexto histórico es importante, lo que me fascina del libro es el amor por las matemáticas que se puede ver en cada frase. Está escrito de una manera muy bella pero es que la relación entre la magia y las matemáticas es simple y compleja a la vez, como la función de Fibonacci se resume en pocos símbolos pero alberga el infinito. Lo mismo que el joven Mandelbrot se enamora de las matemáticas por las conversaciones que mantiene con su tío sobre esta ciencia, yo me enamoré de las frases que utiliza la autora para describir el aislamiento del pobre Benoit, que apenas se relaciona con los demás por no delatar su origen no francés pero que también descubre la belleza de la naturaleza y de las funciones gracias a ese aislamiento.

La inclusión de estudios sobre la Cábala y su enigmática relación la realidad proporciona una excusa para que la autora hable someramente sobre religión. Y aunque la historia está situada en la mitad del siglo pasado, tiene vigencia en un tema tan actual como es el acoso escolar, que Benoit sufre por su condición sospechosa de ser judío, pero que es agravado por su brillantez. Incluso su madre le pide que haga los exámenes bien pero no demasiado bien.

No sé si comprendiendo las matemáticas subyacentes a la historia el relato se podría disfrutar aún más, ya que yo he contado con la inestimable ayuda de mi amigo Elías para los asuntos más espinosos, pero creo que el libro es maravillosamente disfrutable hasta para un lego en la materia.

Such a short book to pack such a wallop. How magical is mathematics, how mathematical is magic? I’ll be thinking about this novel for a long time.