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A review by teebark
Introducing Fractals: A Graphic Guide by Will Rood, Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon, Ralph Edney
5.0
This is a great little book that tells you how the study of fractals began, its history, effect on culture, relation to nature, and how they're generated. It's presented in sort of a comic book format, with pictures, accompanied by tidbits in the margins about some of the people involved in that page's discussion. It does not get deep into the mathematics of fractals, but presents the history of its development in a very engaging way.
I've read bits and pieces about fractals for approximately 30 years, but I've never seen a comprehensive presentation like this book shows. You were probably exposed to fractals yourself and didn't know it, in the scene from Jurassic Park, where a scientist presents the case where a drop of water hitting the back of your hand will take many different paths, depending on many different variables, some of which are incredibly small. But nevertheless, they affect the outcome.
This is defined as chaos--not being able to predict an outcome. But graphs of most chaotic systems are fractal. I know, it makes my head hurt sometimes, too.
I've read bits and pieces about fractals for approximately 30 years, but I've never seen a comprehensive presentation like this book shows. You were probably exposed to fractals yourself and didn't know it, in the scene from Jurassic Park, where a scientist presents the case where a drop of water hitting the back of your hand will take many different paths, depending on many different variables, some of which are incredibly small. But nevertheless, they affect the outcome.
This is defined as chaos--not being able to predict an outcome. But graphs of most chaotic systems are fractal. I know, it makes my head hurt sometimes, too.