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What the Hell Is a Fractal??
Those of you
who have already viewed our web site must be wondering what a fractal is and how
they are created. Fractals were
introduced to the general public in the book "Chaos" by James Gluick.
It was a best seller on college campuses in 1987; one of those books that
everyone buys but no one reads. The distinguishing property of a fractal is self
similarity; i.e., no matter what scale of magnification is applied the image
appears essentially the same.
Fractals are generated by using a pretty simple mathematical
function in a
complex manner( a recursive process - in which the results of each calculation
is used as the input to the same mathematical function for the next
calculation). The creator can tailor several parameters to achieve
unique beauty, complexity, and color, or of surreal other- worldliness. It's hard
to believe the beautiful, textured images are derived through a mathematical
process.
There are many web sites run by university-based mathematicians, and others by unaffiliated
individuals, who get a kick out of creating their own unique images. I download
my fractals of the month from these web sites.
Here are one of them, in case you're interested.
http://spanky.triumf.ca/