Mysterious Patterns. Finding Fractals in Nature.

Review:

By Sarah C. Campbell

Photographs by Sarah and Richard Campbell

Fractals were first studied in 1975 by Benoit Mandelbrot. They are shapes we find in nature. They are different from one another, but all have in common the fact of having small parts that look like the whole part. They are self-similar.

We can find them everywhere from tiny leaves veins to massive mountains ranges. We find them even in a lightning and inside our body. 

Knowing about fractals helped us to study things that are to small, to big or too complex to understand. Fractals help to find order in what looks messy at the first sight.Taking them as an example man has created systems that work in the same way, as Internet wiring and cellphone antennas.

This book explains in a clear way what fractals are, and how they are different from other repetitive patterns in nature and "perfect shapes" man created. It also includes an afterword by Michael Frame, math teacher at Yale University, who worked many years ago with Benoit Mandelbrot.

Age range:6 to 10 years old.