While working on a second college degree in the 1980s, Don Bristow came across a book called “The Fractal Geometry of Nature.” The book’s purpose was to show that fractals — geometric shapes with ...

Humans are visual creatures. Objects we call “beautiful” or “aesthetic” are a crucial part of our humanity. Even the oldest known examples of rock and cave art served aesthetic rather than utilitarian ...

For decades, cosmologists have wondered if the large-scale structure of the universe is a fractal: if it looks the same no matter the scale. And the answer is: no, not really. But in some ways, yes.

What makes a tree a tree? Or rather, why can we recognize trees in even quite abstract depictions when they are so varied in nature? Researchers have found a clue in the branches, and used math to ...

Frax, a new iOS app, leverages the computational oomph in your new iPhone to make dizzying detailed mathematical art. Frax, to its credit, leans right into the “ooh, neat colors!” aspect of fractal ...

As a mathematical concept, the fractal can be intimidating. Benoit Mandelbrot, the Polish-born mathematician who coined the term, defined a fractal as “a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can ...

Richard Taylor receives funding from The Australian Research Council, The Research Council for Science Advancement, and The WM Keck Foundation. Humans are visual creatures. Objects we call “beautiful” ...