UCL Discovery

Abstract

Book description: For professionals and graduate and advanced undergraduate students in geography, this book explains the basics of fractals, how to describe fractal phenomena, and how to make fractal patterns in the study and practice of physical and human geography, and the mapping sciences. Among the topics covered are interpreting the fractal dimension of river networks, fractal geometry and urban morphology and fractal terrain simulation. Books on fractals are usually heavily mathematical and often difficult to understand. Fractals in Geography is simple, clear, and straightforward enough for any social scientist and most students to understand. Like the style, the content too is basic enough for everyone and the examples are well chosen to be of broad interest (e.g., central place theory, city sizes). The book should appeal not only to geographers but also many other kinds of social scientists, including anthropologists, archaeologists, sociologists, and even economists and political scientists, all of whom also study issues like central place theory and settlement patterns. There is also a great deal of unsatisfied interest in all forms of nonlinear social science. Thus, the potential appeal of this book is wide.