Benoit Mandelbrot died on 14th October.<\/a> <\/p>\n

(Non-breaking news from me. i.e. Probably 4 days after everyone else knows it. A good tribute on the BBC by the way but the images are poor.)<\/p>\n

He was the main man for making maths beautiful, even to mathematically challenged people like me.. Fractal mathematics is the mathematics of life. In fact, for atheists, fractal maths is pretty much a direct route to what simpler people call looking at the face of “god” . <\/p>\n

Here’s a beginner’s guide to what fractals are <\/a> with links to some image galleries.<\/p>\n

In the mid-nineties there were any number of graphics packages that let you play around with creating fractals, from a standing start, on a 486…. Especially the venerable and respected fractint<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

I found a version that’s still online. version 20.<\/a> It’s been updated to work on Windows 3.0…. Hmmm, even my PC isn’t quite that elderly.
\n(Wahay. I found a 2008 ftp site.<\/a> Must try it out again.)<\/p>\n

Here are a few fractal image links from tinterwebs. <\/p>\n

* The classic Mandelbrot set.<\/a><\/p>\n

I like the source<\/a> that I got this image from. It points out that someone might see a visual representation of a Mandelbrot set as evidence for “Intelligent Design” and answers <\/p>\n

But in fact, the Mandelbrot set is the product of a relatively simple mathematical equation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That’s the non-divinely miraculous nature of fractal images. A few simple changes in start conditions and\/or a slightly different equation and another infinite set of magical things appears. <\/p>\n

* A fractal vegetable.
\n

<\/a>

Romanesco broccoli<\/p><\/div>
\nOk that’s cheating. Pretty much any living thing is “fractal.” The difference is that romanesco broccoli<\/a> LOOKS like a generated fractal.<\/p>\n

* The coastline of Norway
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

The coast of Norway looks like a generated fractal too. But, then, any coast is fractal. Zoom in and it breaks up into infinitely recursive self-similar patterns.<\/p>\n

In fact, everything is pretty much fractal. Incredibly simple and endlessly complex. And we can see this mainly thanks to teh work of Mandelbrot.<\/p>\n

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