The videotape begins with a slow introduction to the main topic--dynamical systems, iteration, and chaos. The second part shows Julia sets and in particular a few scenes of the development of the Julia sets of analytic functions when parameters vary slowly. The basic mathematics is only hinted at; the short segments all needed supercomputers for production.

The book is quite different. It starts out at a level suitable for interested high school sophomores and develops all the mathematics needed to produce black-and-white computer graphics of Julia sets, the Mandelbrot set, and the Sierpinski fractal triangle, with ample explanations. Devaney provides a set of simple programs for this (written in QBasic). The programs work (I tried them all out; one probably needs a minimum of 20 MHz to work reasonably quickly), and ample suggestions for further program development are included. The graphics are all in black and white; adding the usual color is not difficult. I recommend this book highly for the novice; it contains an amazing amount of good mathematical introduction for such a slim volume. The bibliography is restricted to introductory books.