The related fields of fractal image encoding and fractal image analysis have blossomed in recent years. This book, originating from a NATO Advanced Study Institute held in 1995, presents work by leading researchers. It is developing the subjects at an introductory level, but it also has some recent and exciting results in both fields.
The book contains a thorough discussion of fractal image compression and decompression, including both continuous and discrete formulations, vector space and hierarchical methods, and algorithmic optimizations. The book also discusses multifractal approaches to image analysis, segmentation, and recognition, including medical applications.

This book is based on notes for the course Fractals: lntroduction, Basics and Perspectives given by MichaelF. Barnsley, RobertL. Devaney, Heinz-Otto Peit gen, Dietmar Saupe and Richard F. Voss. The course was chaired by Heinz-Otto Peitgen and was part of the SIGGRAPH '87 (Anaheim, California) course pro gram. Though the five chapters of this book have emerged from those courses we have tried to make this book a coherent and uniformly styled presentation as much as possible. It is the first book which discusses fractals solely from the point of view of computer graphics. Though fundamental concepts and algo rithms are not introduced and discussed in mathematical rigor we have made a serious attempt to justify and motivate wherever it appeared to be desirable. Ba sic algorithms are typically presented in pseudo-code or a description so close to code that a reader who is familiar with elementary computer graphics should find no problem to get started. Mandelbrot's fractal geometry provides both a description and a mathemat ical model for many of the seemingly complex forms and patterns in nature and the sciences. Fractals have blossomed enormously in the past few years and have helped reconnect pure mathematics research with both natural sciences and computing. Computer graphics has played an essential role both in its de velopment and rapidly growing popularity. Conversely, fractal geometry now plays an important role in the rendering, modelling and animation of natural phenomena and fantastic shapes in computer graphics."

The related fields of fractal image encoding and fractal image analysis have blossomed in recent years. This book, originating from a NATO Advanced Study Institute held in 1995, presents work by leading researchers. It is developing the subjects at an introductory level, but it also has some recent and exciting results in both fields.
The book contains a thorough discussion of fractal image compression and decompression, including both continuous and discrete formulations, vector space and hierarchical methods, and algorithmic optimizations. The book also discusses multifractal approaches to image analysis, segmentation, and recognition, including medical applications.

One half of the book is authored by Yuval Fisher himself, while articles from another 12 experts in the field present material from different points of view. The focus here is solely on fractal image encoding, with the aim of providing a working code that is usable in applications, while containing the "complete" details of how to encode and decode images. An indispensable "how to" guide, combining the very latest results in the field. Of interest to a very wide audience, ranging from experts in image processing to high school students.

The World Wide Web is transforming the way we provide and obtain information across the globe. It is a method of presenting and receiving information over the Internet, the worldwide conglomeration of computer networks which is currently exploding in growth. The simple and appealing presentation of information on the WWW has made this the fastest growing segment of the Internet, and it is well on its way toward dominating information exchange. This book will contain information needed to serve and retrieve data on the World Wide Web. It will include information about servers, the programs that give out information, and also about clients, such as Mosaic. The book will cover both simple and advanced usage. The book will be tied in to Springer's Web site in a variety of ways: there will be links to internet references, and the author will interact with readers via a bulletin board. It will be useful for web site administrators who need such information at their fingertips and to individuals who want to set up their own web sites.