Abstract Thursday : : Fractal

I love fractals.  They are everywhere in nature ...pineapples, ice crystals, river deltas and the veins in our bodies all grow according to fractal laws. Fractal laws are often said to describe chaos and yet, as they apply to nature, they seem to me to be just the opposite. But the science of chaos just means the science of surprises, so I suppose it describes nature perfectly. 

Fractal forms are very efficient and allow plants to maximize their exposure to sunlight. The euphorbia in my picture today might just be wishing it wasn't quite so exposed to the sunlight, but it is a classic example of a self repeating fractal.

I saw a program  many years ago about fractals in nature and an equation called the Mandelbrot Set. I have never forgotten it. Benoit Mandelbrot created an equation for a repeating fractal pattern known as The Mandelbrot Set in 1975. if colors are assigned to the numbers and positions on a plane and repeated over and over a beautiful fractal pattern can be created.The fractals continue to self replicate ad infinitum  even as one zooms in and they get smaller and smaller.

I was just as confused by this idea as you are now trying to make sense of my attempt to describe it, but the visual renditions of computerized versions of the Mandelbrot set are beautiful and appeal to my right brain, even if my left brain doesn't get it all. As Blippers are always looking for new things to photograph, we often mention how it has made us see the world with new eyes. It is interesting to look for self repeating patterns in nature...another new way of looking at the world.

Here's a quote from an article about fractals to divert yourself from the mess we people have made of the world .
Another characteristic of fractals is that they exhibit great complexity driven by simplicity....