It inspired several generations of biologists to come to grips with geometry, of both the plain straightedge and compass variety and the complex algebraic topology variety. Ontogeny and phylogeny . The fractal geometry of nature . His influence can even be seen in the emergence of an area between biology and geometry with works that are no longer clearly one or the other. This is strange terrain where the analytical techniques originate from a wide range of disciplines and have odd hybrid names like cellular automata, vegetation grammars and neural nets, and the problems range widely over genetics, ecology, cell biology and even economics.
Some workers here talk of a new science of complex systems .
It is in this region we find Kaandorp s delightful book. Neither pure biology nor pure mathematics, nor an apologia for one to the other. Instead it sits comfortably in the newish space between the disciplines and offers something to both. Elegance, a part of any aesthetic, is much more prized in mathematics than in science, so it refreshing to see a scientific book where elegance takes such a prominent place, both in terms of the lovely economy of the fractal process itself as well as the beautiful visualisations that result. Kaandorp provides the biological reader with a very well structured introduction to fractal geometry by using, as exemplars, the familiar forms of sessile marine organisms such as corals and sponges.