What is a Fractal?
I sat down at my computer today to answer that question.
The answer is not easy, because fractals can be many things.
Fractals are a way to use math, to make art. The way that
works, is part of what makes fractals special. Let's start with
a little fractal history:
In the year 1963, an event happened that changed my life.
I didn't know it at the time. It happened almost forty years ago.
I was just a baby at the time. If that is a little confusing, don't
worry. When it happened, nobody knew that it was an important
thing. It wasn't until many years later that people began to
realize just what an important event it was.
A man named, Benoit Mandelbrot made an announcement.
He had made a discovery. It didn't sound important. It didn't
even really sound complicated, but not many people really
understood it. To put it simply, this is what he said,
"Fractals are objects that have fractional dimensions."
It's not really a quote. He may not have said it in exactly those
words, but that was the idea he explained. What does that
phrase mean?
It will be easier to show you, than to explain. On the next page,
you will find a list of tutorial pages. Click on the little image
below, then select tutorial number one for an explanation.
