The dictionary defines a fractal as a geometrical or physical structure having an irregular or fragmented shape at all scales of measurement between a greatest and smallest scale such that certain mathematical or physical properties of the structure, as the perimeter of a curve or the flow rate in a porous medium, behave as if the dimensions of the structure (fractal dimensions) are greater than the spatial dimensions. “BORING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ”

This is Sarah and I speaking. We don't want to bore you out of our website. Our definition is: a pattern that can be very colorful and look like different shapes like fish and they NEVER END!!!!!! A fractal is recursive. Recursion is the process of defining a function or calculating a number by the repeated application of an algorithm. In short, they go to infinity and beyond. Thats if you zoom in a lot and every time you zoom in, you get different patterns.

Did you know that the first person to think of fractals was Benoit B. Mandelbrot. He was the cool guy who created the most awesome fractals ever! He used mathematical equations to create the most common fractal; the Mandelbrot. Who ever thought that math could be so cool?

About Benoit Mandelbrot

Benoit Mandelbrot was born in Warsaw, Poland on

November 20, 1924. He was apart of the religion of Judaism from Lithuania. The Nazi threaten him and his family. So he was forced to move to France in 1936 when he was 11 years old. Benoit was in France throughout the war. His family was smart in academics. Benoit's mother was a medical doctor. He was introduced to mathematics by his two uncles. Szolem Mandelbrot

(Benoit's uncle) was very famous for Parisian mathematics. His father made a living by trading clothing. Benoit attended the Lycee Rolin in Paris until the start of World War II, then he and his family moved to Tulle. In 1994 Benoit returned to Paris. He studied at Lycee du Parc in Lyon and in 1945-1947 he attended the Ecole Polytechnique where he studied under Gaston Julia and Paul Levy. During the years of 1949 to 1957 Benoit Mandelbrot studied at California Institute of Technology. He also studied aeronautics. Then he went back to France to gain a PhD. In Mathematical Sciences at the University of Paris in 1952.

This is a picture of Benoit B. Mandelbrot in 2007.

More Interesting Facts

Later in years, Benoit B. Mandelbrot started coming up with mathematical equations to show people different ways to use math. In nature he used a common season called winter and realized that snowflakes have different patterns. He used this information for his project of fractals. When Benoit was done he showed everyone and they thought it was genius. He earned many rewards like the Wolf Prize for physics in 1993, the Lewis Fry Richardson prize of the European Geophysical Society in 2000,the Japan Prize in 2003, and the Einstein Lectureship of the

American Mathematical Society in 2006. Also he was a knight from the French Legion of Honor.

A Famous Quote

Clouds are not spheres, mountains are not cones, coastlines are not circles, and bark is not smooth, nor does lightning travel in a straight line.

                                                                                      - Benoit Mandelbrot

Fractals in Nature and The Nature Tree

Do you think fractals and nature don't go together? “WRONG!!!!”

For example, leaves are fractals. If you zoom in on the little squares on the leaf, that is a fractal. Compare the differences of the pine needle and the oak leaf.

What do you know about the nature tree? Do you know how to create it? Well, to create it, you start out with a V. Then you keep on adding a V to each side every time.

It should look like this:

  We created this fractal tree on GIMP.

Snowflakes are fractals in nature. Each snowflake is different. There are many different types such as the Van Koch snowflake. To create this, you repeat triangles.

An example of this:

Here are some amazing links and images