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The Geometry of Nature
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By Michael Duong
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What does this look like to you?
Georg Cantor: Infinite Insanity
-Georg Cantor was born on March 3, 1845 in St. Petersburg,
Russia. He studied number theory in the University of Berlin. He
later became a mathematics professor of the University of Halle,
a position he would remain in for the rest of his miserable life.
Georg Cantor: Infinite Insanity
-He began to investigate the infinity. After developing parts of
set theory, Cantor wondered what would happen if he took a
line, split it in thirds, took away the middle, and repeated. Would
this continue to infinity. YES! This was the birth of the first
“mathematical monster,” the earliest form of a fractal.
Georg Cantor: Infinite Insanity
-After numerous failed attempts to solve his famous continuum
hypothesis, and the deaths of his loved ones, Cantor’s trips to
the insane asylum became more and more frequent. His work
had turned him insane.
-He died in 1918.
What does this look like to you?

Usual answers:
-Beetle
-Sting ray
-Heart shaped thingy

It is actually a… FRACTAL!
But, what is a FRACTAL, and who made this one?
Benoit Mandelbrot: Father of Fractals
-Benoit Mandelbrot was born on November 20, 1924 in
Lithuania. His family moved to Paris, France when he was a
child, where his uncle, Szolem, a studious mathematician,
worked.

DUCK SITING?
-Unlike his uncle, Benoit Mandelbrot did not inherit a love for
numbers. He was a misfit.
Benoit Mandelbrot: Father of Fractals
-Mandelbrot was practically
illiterate, and never learned
multiplication past the 5 times
tables.
-One day, in geometry class, the
professor asked the students to
graph an equation.
-Mandelbrot usually struggled at
this because he lacked algebra
skills, but as Mandelbrot pondered
at the equation, he could suddenly
visualize the graph. He had found
his gift.
IBM and the FRACTALS
-In the 1950’s a computer company called IBM was looking for
new mathematicians and computer programmers
-Mandelbrot was hired in 1958.
His first task was to find out why there was static in the
computer telephone lines.
-When graphed for 1 day, 1 hour, and 1 second, he realized that
all the static always remained the same. He called this “self-
similarity.”
Self Similarity
-characteristic in which the smaller and smaller details
of a shape have the same original form.

-Notice how as you zoom into this self similar shape, it

looks as if you always end up in the place you originated
from. Mandelbrot’s static was self similar, and so are
those hands.

FRACTALS are also self similar.

 Recursive Formulas
-While at IBM, Mandelbrot tried to solve a problem presented by
a young mathematician named Gaston Julia. (recursive formula)

So substitute a number for the x on the right. Get an answer for

x on the left, and substitute that value on the right again, etc.
Right x Left x
1 2
2 5
5 26
26 677
677 458,330
Using the IBM computers, Mandelbrot graphed this equation.
He got…
The Mandelbrot Set-
-the graph of the equation x=x2+c. Notice
that as you zoom into it, it is self similar.
Mandelbrot called this kind of shape a fractal.

Before Mandelbrot, other mathematicians

called fractals monsters, because they
iterated infinitely. (Cantor, Weierstrass, Koch,
Sierpinski, Hausdorff, Julia.)
Fractals
-a geometric figure that is created using iteration.

Iteration
-a process of repeating the same procedure over and over again.

So, when we were creating the table for the Mandelbrot Set, we
were iterating the equation x=x2+1. We continued the same
procedure of x2 +1 and substitute in the x 5 times.

So, we went through 5 iterations, or STAGES of the fractal.

Examples:
-This is the Koch snowflake by Helge von Koch. It starts of
as a triangle, and smaller triangles are added in the middle
third of every straight line.
How many stages does the animation go through?

This is Sierpinski’s Triangle by Waclaw Sierpinski. It begins

as a triangle and continues to add black triangles inside
itself.

What stage does the animation begin at? How many stages
does the animation go through?
Real World Fractals-
Many people believe fractals are just pretty pictures.
Can you think of any fractals in the real world?

Mandelbrot died on October 14, 2010, knowing that without his

contributions, we would still be living in the Dark Ages.
 π
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