Benoit Mandelbrot.The universe around us is not linear but fractal in nature. That is, we see the same pattern appearing time and again, no matter what the scale it is examined on. Look at a river with its tributories. Each tributory is itself a river, with smaller tributories, which in turn are themselves rivers with smaller tributories, and so on down to creeks. Or a fern frond; the main frond of which consists of a two rows of sub-fronds, each of which consists of two rows of smaller fronds or leaves. Or the pattern of a coastline: bays and peninsulas contain smaller bays and peninsulars, right down to grains of sand.
Fractals were discovered and described by a mathematician by the name of Benoit Mandelbrot.
simple fractals
The Koch Snowflake
A good example of a simple fractal. Take an equilateral triangle.
Add a smaller but identical triangle in the middle of each of the three
sides. Repeat ad infinitum.
The Mandelbrot Set
The classic fractal; a mathematical equation named after its discover,
Benoit Mandelbrot. What makes this equation interesting is that it
is recursive; that is, it continually refers back to itself, so that each
successive step employs as one of its parameters the outcome of the preceding
step. When the Mandelbrot equation is fed into a computer, and the
computer is instructed to paint the various points that arise on a screen
or a print-out, the most astonishing patterns emerge.
Mandelbrot Explorer - an interactive site that lets you explore the Mandelbrot set. You can also download images from the gallery (no thumbnails here unfortunately).
Fractal patterns often appear in occult representations of reality. Tibetan Buddhist mandalas for example will sometimes show a central Buddha- figure, surrounded by smaller secondary Buddhas, each of which are in turn surrounded by even smaller Buddhas.
One occult system that is especially fractal in its approach is Kabbalah. According to the Jewish occult system of Kabbalah, everything in existence can be classified in terms of, and reduced to, ten fundamental archetypal principles or essences, called Sefirot. Originally, the Sefirot were conceived of as the ten fundamental qualities of the manifest and knowable Godhead, as opposed to the unmanifest, unknowable En Sof or "infinite". But later they were applied to classifying everything in existence, whether divine or mundane. This is especially so in the case of non-Jewish or Magical, Hermetic Kabbalah (usually spelt "Qabalah").
But what makes Kabbalah a fractal theory of reality is its oft-stated assertion that each of the ten Sefirot that together make up creation is composed of ten Sefirot, each of which is in turn composed of ten,
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Fractal Links | |
The
Fractal Music Project - links, software, and some examples of
fractal music. check it out!
The Fractint Homepage - The definitative fractal-generating
program, a freeware for PC's - part of the Spanky Fractal Database (see
below)
The
Spanky Fractal Database is a collection of fractals and fractal
related material for free distribution on the net. Maintained by
Noel Giffin
Fractal
Information - by Neal
Kettler
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