Math is beautiful… don’t believe me – just take a look at fractals.
• 3D Mandelbrot set, Spinning the 2D Mandelbrot fractal in neon colors against a black background –ar 16:9 –s 250
What is a Mandelbrot Fractal?
The Mandelbrot fractal is like a never-ending kaleidoscope of shapes within shapes. No matter how much you zoom in on it, you’ll find similar patterns appearing over and over, but with slight variations each time. It’s created by a mathematical formula that gets repeated many times.
How Was It Named?
The fractal is named after Benoît B. Mandelbrot, the mathematician who studied and popularized it in the 1970s and 1980s. He didn’t invent the fractal, but he was a pioneer in exploring its properties and introducing it to a wider audience.
What’s Significant About the Shape?
The Mandelbrot set is not just beautiful and mesmerizing; it’s a symbol of how simple rules can lead to complex and unpredictable patterns. It’s an example of the deep and surprising structures hidden within mathematics. Its boundary is infinitely complex, and yet the rule to generate it is straightforward.
The original Mandelbrot set is inherently 2D. Using NEW mathematical rules, some scientist have attempted to extend the Mandelbrot concept into three dimensions, by ‘spinning’ the Mandelbrot. The visual created here is based on that idea.