Born in Warsaw, Poland, he has lived in France for much of his life. He showed that fractals can be found in many places in both mathematics and nature. Mandelbrot was born into a family with a strong academic tradition. His mother was a doctor. His father, however, made his living buying and selling clothes. As a young boy, Mandelbrot was introduced to mathematics by his two uncles. Mandelbrot's work on fractals as a mathematician at IBM earned him an Emeritus Fellowship at the T. J. Watson Research Laboratories. He joined the faculty of Yale in 1987. In German, Mandelbrot means "almond bread", while Benoît is French for "Benedict" meaning "blessed".
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