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Fractals
: The Patterns of Chaos : A New Aesthetic of Art, Science, and
Nature by John Briggs Paperback - 192 pages Available at: |
Back Cover:
Fractals are unique patterns left behind by the unpredictable movements
- the chaos - of the world at work. The branching patterns of trees, the veins
in a hand, water twisting out of a running tap - all of these are fractals.
Learn to recognize them and you will never again see things in quite the same
way.
Fractals permeate our lives, appearing in places as tiny as the surface of a virus and as majestic as the Grand Canyon. From ancient tribal peoples to modern painters to the animators of "Star Wars," artists have been captivated by fractals and have utilized them in their work. Computer buffs are wild about fractals as well, for they can be generated on ordinary home computers.
In "Fractals: The Patterns of Chaos," science writer John Briggs uses over 170 illustrations to clearly explain the significance - and more importantly, the beauty - of fractals. He describes how fractals were discovered, how they are formed, and the unique properties different fractals share. "Fractals" is a breathtaking guided tour of a brand new aesthetic of art, science, and nature. It will revolutionize the way you see the world and your place within it.
Philologos comment:
I keep coming back to this book over and over again. I feel like there is some
great secret about to be revealed as I look through it but it seems to be just
outside the periphery of my understanding. Whether or not I ever grasp the
illusive concept and it's free-will connotations, the pictures alone are worth a
look-see.
- Introduction
- A Planet of Living Fractals
- Of Camels, Straws, and Fractals
- The Fractals and Chaos of Outer Space
- Our Weather Today is Chaos
- Between Things: Fractal Dimensions
- The Haunting Mandelbrot Set
- Fractal Math Imitations, Both Fanciful and Real
- Chaos and Symmetry Hybrids
- Chaos Sculpts Fractal Landscapes
- Spirals, Solitons, and Self-Organizing Chaos
- Feedback and Iteration: The Heartbeat of Chaos
- The Human Body is a Fractal Creation
- The Folded Order of Turbulence
- Visualizing Chaos as a Strange Attractor
- The Art of Abstract Images from Fractal Math
- The New Geometry of Irregularity
- Great Art's Fractal Secrets
- Coda: Living with Unpredictability's Shapes
- Creating Fractals on Home Computers