And yesterday everything went on just as usual. I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think: Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is : Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle!
-Lewis Carrol,
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
The world of fractal mathematics....self-similar and infinitely detailed....what a wonderous definition of so many aspects of nature.... and truely ourselves! Benoit Mandelbrot's (born, Warsaw Poland) idea of mathematics can be sumed by his statement "I don't study books, I study nature." Fractals are now used in Pixar animation, cardiology, ongoing research for cancer, forest management, and many other disciplines in science that require a different look at math. While working for IBM he investigated a problem with transmitting computer information via telephone lines. After charting out the interference, he discovered that all the interference had the same pattern, no matter what time of day or length of duration. The pattern reminded him of the mathematical "monsters" he had studied at University. His interest in this occurence and his research has opened massive doors to the understanding of nature and items that aren't geometric. For informative interviews and how this all began visit www.PBS.org and click on Hunting the Hidden Dimension. So really....who in the world am I?
2 comments:
Well I don't know, maybe I knew how you were a moment ago but not how you are right now. You have changed in the meantime. Are we fractals? Well, Carrol was a mathematician so he should know about this sort of contradictions. I know too little about this :(
I also know too little about this subject, however isn't it delightful to catch a glimpse of genius? I am always amazed at how something ( a flower,skin,a leaf, a person) looks so complex but is, in fact, a sum of its parts ;-)
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