Sad News for Comet Watchers

[This is a back-issue of one of this site’s newsletters]

The ancient Greeks told a story about Icarus, who wanted to fly. He glued feathers to his arms with wax, and flew – but flew too close to the sun. The wax melted, the feathers dropped, and Icarus fell to his death.

Six months ago, we were told about a coming “Comet of the Century”, comet ISON. If things had played out differently, it might have been brighter than the full moon in the dawn skies around now.

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Benoît Mandelbrot – Rest In Peace

Benoît Mandelbrot has passed away.

Mandelbrot is one of the few mathematicians whose contributions – at least some of them – can be immediately recognised and appreciated by a number of non-mathematicians. His name is attached to the now famous Mandelbrot set, beautiful pictures of which are immediately recognizable, and stunningly beautiful.

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