Cover; Title Page; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; Introduction; Chapter 1. A Fractal World; 1.1. Fractals pervade into geography; 1.1.1. From geosciences to physical geography; 1.1.2. Urban geography: a big beneficiary; 1.2. Forms of fractal processes; 1.2.1. Some fractal forms that make use of the principle of allometry; 1.2.2. Time series and processes are also fractal; 1.2.3. Rank-size rules are generally fractal structures; 1.3. First reflections on the link between power laws and fractals; 1.3.1. Brief introduction into power laws.1.3.2. Some power laws recognized before the fractal era1.4. Conclusion; Chapter 2. Auto-similar and Self-affine Fractals; 2.1. The rarity of auto-similar terrestrial forms; 2.2. Yet more classes of self-affine fractal forms and processes; 2.2.1. Brownian, fractional Brownian and multi-fractional Brownian motion; 2.2.2. Lévy models; 2.2.3. Four examples of generalizations for simulating realistic forms; 2.3. Conclusion; Chapter 3. From the Fractal Dimension to Multifractal Spectrums; 3.1. Two extensions of the fractal dimension: lacunarity and codimension.3.1.1. Some territorial textures differentiated by their lacunarity3.1.2. Codimension as a relative fractal dimension; 3.2. Some corrections to the power laws: semifractals, parabolicfractals and log-periodic distributions; 3.2.1. Semifractals and double or truncated Pareto distributions; 3.2.2. The parabolic fractal model; 3.2.3. Log-periodic distributions; 3.3. A routine technique in medical imaging: fractal scanning; 3.4. Multifractals used to describe all the irregularities of a setdefined by measurement; 3.4.1. Definition and characteristics of a multifractal.3.4.2. Two functions to interpret: generalized dimension spectrumand singularity spectrum3.4.3. An approach that is classical in geosciences but exceptional in social sciences; 3.4.4. Three potential generalizations; 3.5. Conclusion; Chapter 4. Calculation and Interpretation of Fractal Dimensions; 4.1. Test data representing three categories of fractals: black and white maps, grayscale Landsat images and pluviometric chronicle series; 4.2. A first incontrovertible stage: determination of the fractal classof the geographical phenomenon studied.4.2.1. Successive tests using Fourier or wavelet decompositions4.2.2. Decadal rainfall in Barcelona and Beirut are fractionalGaussian noise; 4.3. Some algorithms for the calculation of the fractal dimensionsof auto-similar objects; 4.3.1. Box counting, information and area measurementdimensions for auto-similar objects; 4.3.2. A geographically inconclusive application from perception; 4.4. The fractal dimensions of objects and self-affine processes; 4.4.1. A multitude of algorithms; 4.4.2. High irregularity of decadal rainfall for Barcelona and Beirut; 4.5. Conclusion.