According to Merriam Webster, a fractal is a curve or geometric figure, each part of which has the same statistical character as the whole. Fractals are useful in modeling structures (such as eroded coastlines or snowflakes) in which similar patterns recur at progressively smaller scales, and in describing partly random or chaotic phenomena such as crystal growth, fluid turbulence, and galaxy formation.In 1979, while studying the Julia set, Mandelbrot discovered what is now called the Mandelbrot set and inspired a generation of mathematicians and computer programmers in the study of fractals and fractal geometry.
Fractals involve numbers and equations, like other mathematician ideas. The difference is that fractals can be used to generate complex, beautiful images.
Here is a gallery of computer-generated fractals.
