:Fractals…

This has nothing to do with dogs…well, maybe a little something if you go to the smallest detail, if you really stretch. Fractals. Last night Nova aired Fractals: Hunting the Hidden Dimension.

Here’s the description taken from the PBS website:

What do movie special effects, the stock market, and heart attacks have in common? They are connected by a revolutionary new branch of math called fractals, which changed the way we see the world and opened up a vast new territory to scientific analysis and understanding. Meet the mathematicians who developed fractals from a mere curiosity to an approach that touches nearly every branch of understanding, including the fate of our universe.

The DVD will be released the beginning of December and can be ordered through the link above.

The term, the geometric term was coined in 1975…which left me out of that learning loop! I graduated from high school in 1971 and from vet tech school in 1974. When Nate was in grade school I do remember him drawing and coloring fractals. I probably thought it was an art assignment, not a math assignment. Don’t laugh too hard. Look at these images and you can understand my confusion.

And the most famous fractal of all, the Mandelbrot set…

Wikipedia has great information about fractals, including lots of moving graphics. Have fun exploring!