Fractals The Definitive Guide

I have read a lot of books on this subject and this is the clearest.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.

Not quite what I expected from the description, but there is material here.

I picked this up after getting stuck on a project and it turned out to be exactly the right book at the right time. The index and cross-references are surprisingly good, which matters for a book I will come back to. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. Useful as a reference, less so as a straight read from cover to cover.

It does the job, though it took some patience to get through.

I have been working with mathematics for a few years now and I still found plenty here that was new to me. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. The book rewards careful reading. Skimming it would be a mistake. Useful as a reference, less so as a straight read from cover to cover.