Matt Mauzy Fractals Nature
Now, I would love to talk to you about fractals that are found in nature and why I find them so interesting. Most people think of fractals as cool designs on album covers or famous artwork, but it is so much more. I love any kind of math that you can apply and see in the world around you and fractals is one that makes it easy for us. Fractals are basically a never-ending pattern that looks the same if you zoom in or out of the object in question. Here is a picture of an example.
These designs are created by duplicating the same simple pattern over and over and these patterns are seen all over nature. These designs look very complicated but, it is driven by simplicity, some of the most beautiful and complex fractals are just a simplistic pattern that is duplicated over and over. The interesting thig is these designs are very efficient and very prevalent in nature. These designs can be found in some vegetables, snowflakes, our cardiovascular system, electricity dispersion, and even river formations. In plants this design helps maximizes sunlight, in our own body it helps oxygen get transported though our bodies.
Here is a picture of electricity that was released and burned into plexiglass, it was explained as bottled lightening from the site I found this picture. There is a whole art form where people run electricity through wood between two pegs and it creates fractal art, I put a link down below.
So, why do I find fractals so interesting? I am just about to finish my degree in computer programming and fractals remind me of the first time looking behind the scenes on some code for a program that seemed pretty simple. This approach is like being thrown into the middle of the ocean to learn how to swim. It just isn’t feasible. When I was learning programming, I took in small bits at a time and grew that knowledge. I think this is a great approach to learning many different things in the world around us. Take a tree for example, a tree may look like one big solid object but when you look closer it is comprised of many different cells working together and getting instructions from its DNA. When you want to learn more about a tree or any complicated structure you need to break it down and look at the individual pieces and see why one-part sprouts branches and one leaves and so on. The world is an amazing place and only when you truly break it down can you understand how it really works. Maybe that is why I love math so much.
References
Gunther, Shea (April 24th, 2013) 14 Amazing Fractals Found in Nature. Retrieved from https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/blogs/14-amazing-fractals-found-in-nature
https://www.fractalburn.com/
Images found here:
http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2007/03/fractals-for-food.html
https://media.mnn.com/assets/images/2013/04/fractal-plastic.jpg