Introduction to Fractal

Geometry and its Applications

College Visit

Final (Three Hour )

Workshop

Copyright: A. Robertson
Middle School Slides
 Fractals
• Fractals can be
described as
Picture of Benoit B.
– Broken Mandelbrot was
taken at his lecture
at Worcester
– Fragmented Polytechnic
Institute, November
– Irregular 2006 and the picture
of the Mandelbrot
set is from: The
• Concept created by fractal geometry
Web site,
Benoit Mandelbrot to http://classes.yale.e
du/fractals/ of
describe nature and Michael Frame,
Benoit Mandelbrot
measure roughness. and Nial Neger.
Courtesy of Michael
Frame.

2
 Historical Perspective

“I coined fractal from the Latin

adjective fractus. The
corresponding Latin verb frangere
means ‘to break:’ to create
irregular fragments. ” Benoit B.
Mandelbrot
Reference: Mandelbrot, Benoit B. The Fractal Geometry of Nature. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and
3
Company, 1977. 4.
 This is a shoal near the
coastline of the Bahamas.
It is very jagged and
rough.

Reference: Michael Frame, Natural and Manufactured Fractals, http://classes.yale.edu/Fractals//welcome.html.

Courtesy of Michael Frame.
4
 Geometry of Nature

Regardless of
the scale, the
actual
coastlines
appear to
have the same
amount of
jaggedness.

Courtesy of Prof. Dr. Heinz-Otto Peitgen for the coastline images: Barnsley, Devaney, Mandelbrot, Peitgen, Saupe and Voss. The
Science of Fractal Images. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1988. 23.
5
 Reference: Janson, H. W.
History of Art. New York:
Prentice-hall, Inc. and Harry N.
Abrams, Inc.; 1964. 504.

Paul Cézanne, French, 1839-

1906
Mont Sainte-Victoire Seen from
the Bibémus Quarry, 1897
Oil on canvas
25-1/8 x 31-1/2 in. (65.1 x 80 cm.)
Courtesy of: The Baltimore
Museum of Art: The Cone
Collection, formed by Dr.
Claribel Cone and Miss Etta
Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
BMA 1950.196

Cezanne’s statement about painting: “Everything in

Nature can be viewed in terms of cones, cylinders and
spheres.” Can you find a cone shape? A cylinder?
6
Reference: Michael Frame, Natural and Manufactured Fractals, http://classes.yale.edu/fractals/
 1960 – 1990s Mandelbrot at IBM Research

NSF Geometry Super Computer Project

“Clouds are not spheres, mountains

are not cones, coastlines are not
circles, and bark is not smooth, nor
does lightning travel in straight lines.”
Mandelbrot

Reference: Mandelbrot, Benoit B. The Fractal Geometry of Nature. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1977. 1.
 Today

Chaos and Dynamical Systems are current fields of research.

Computer images are a way of displaying fractals.

 The Mandelbrot Set

Describe the Mandelbrot Set.

Why is it important?

9
 T
h
e
M
a
n
d
e
l
b
r
o
t
S
Fractal Geometry e
Magnifications of the Mandelbrot set courtesy of Prof. Dr. Heinz-Otto Peitgen t 10
From center insert of Chaos, James Gleick, Penguin Books, New York, 1987
 The Mandelbrot Set
Zoom in on the square.

11
Slide from presentation of Thomas McGrath: Fab Fractal Frenzy, Fractal Geometry For Girls (FG)2, Gateway Community College, North Haven
Campus, June 2, 2006. Slides created using the free Fractint Fractal Generation program by the Stone Soup Group at Cornell University
 The Mandelbrot Set

Slide from presentation of Thomas McGrath: Fab Fractal Frenzy, Fractal Geometry For Girls (FG)2, Gateway Community
College, North Haven Campus, June 2, 2006. Slide created using the free Fractint Fractal Generation program by the Stone Soup 12
Group at Cornell University
 The Mandelbrot Set

Slide from presentation of Thomas McGrath: Fab Fractal Frenzy, Fractal Geometry For Girls (FG)2, 13
Gateway Community College, North Haven Campus, June 2, 2006. Slide created using the free Fractint Fractal Generation program by the Stone
Soup Group at Cornell University.
What is self-similarity?

Explain how self-similarity can

be found in the Koch curve.

14
 Example of a Fractal
Koch Curve : Take a
moment and remember
how the curve is
constructed. How many
stages did you sketch?

Illustration drawn in Logo: Courtesy of Ginny Jones, 3/28/2008

retired lecturer from Central Connecticut State University
15
 Self-similarity
Koch Curve

Slide from presentation of Thomas McGrath: Fab Fractal Frenzy, Fractal Geometry For Girls (FG)2, Gateway Community College, North 16 Haven
Campus, June 2, 2006. Slides from The fractal geometry Web site, http://classes.yale.edu/fractals/ of Michael Frame, Benoit Mandelbrot and Nial
Neger. Courtesy of Michael Frame.
 Koch
• Self-similar
Curve
• At each stage in its construction, the length of the curve
increases by a factor of 4/3.

• The resulting figure has infinite length in a finite area of the

plane without intersecting itself.

• The curve is more than a line (not 1 D) and yet has no

breadth (not 2D).

17
 Koch Curve
Stage 1 *
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

o
o
*

o
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*

o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
* * * * * * * *
o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Stage 2
o o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o o o o o o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o o o o o o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Stage 3 *

*
o
*

o
o
o

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
o

*
o
*

o
*
*

*
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
* * * * * * * * * * * *
o o o o o o o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o o o o o o o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o o o o o o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o o o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
o
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
18
Slide from presentation of Thomas McGrath: Fab Fractal Frenzy, Fractal Geometry For Girls (FG)2, Gateway Community College, North Haven
Campus, June 2, 2006.
 Exercise: Koch Snowflake

1. With the specially designed and

marked graph paper, create various
stages of the Koch curve.
2. Color your “snowflake” to show the
various levels of self-similarity. If the
process continued indefinitely, the
result would be called a Koch
snowflake.
Illustration drawn in Logo: Courtesy of Ginny Jones, 3/28/2008

19
 Koch Curve
Koch Curve Koch Snoflake

Iteration Number of Sides Side Length Line Length Perimeter Area

0 1 1.00 1.00 3.00 0.4330
1 4 3.33E-01 1.33 4.00 0.5774
2 16 1.11E-01 1.78 5.33 0.6415
3 64 3.70E-02 2.37 7.11 0.6700
4 256 1.23E-02 3.16 9.48 0.6827
5 1,024 4.12E-03 4.21 12.64 0.6883
6 4,096 1.37E-03 5.62 16.86 0.6908
7 16,384 4.57E-04 7.49 22.47 0.6919
8 65,536 1.52E-04 9.99 29.97 0.6924
9 262,144 5.08E-05 13.32 39.95 0.6926
10 1,048,576 1.69E-05 17.76 53.27 0.6927
11 4,194,304 5.65E-06 23.68 71.03 0.6928
12 16,777,216 1.88E-06 31.57 94.71 0.6928
13 67,108,864 6.27E-07 42.09 126.28 0.6928
14 268,435,456 2.09E-07 56.12 168.37 0.6928
15 1,073,741,824 6.97E-08 74.83 224.49 0.6928
17 17,179,869,184 7.74E-09 133.03 399.10 0.6928
20 1,099,511,627,776 2.87E-10 315.34 946.01 0.6928
22 17,592,186,044,416 3.19E-11 560.60 1681.80 0.6928
50 1.E+30 1.39E-24 1.77E+06 5.30E+06 0.6928
100 2.E+60 1.94E-48 3.12E+12 9.35E+12 0.6928
20
Slide from presentation of Thomas McGrath: Fab Fractal Frenzy, Fractal Geometry For Girls (FG)2, Gateway Community College, North Haven
Campus, June 2, 2006.
 Fractal
The Koch curve has a
Dimension dimension of 1.26 --more
than 1 but not 2.
Fractal Dimension:
measures the degree of
irregularity/roughness
regardless of how much we
zoom in on the curve.
21
 Fractal Fractals are important in
building new devices.
Antennas Here is a fractal antenna.

Fractal Antenna’ Parts Photo Credit: Nathan Cohen © Fractal Antenna Systems, Inc. Used by Permission.

Reference: Natural and Manufactured Fractals from the fractal geometry web site,
http://classes.yale.edu/fractals/ of Michael Frame, Benoit Mandelbrot and Nial Neger. 22
 Fractal Coastlines

South Africa Great Britain Norway

Fractal dimension Fractal dimension Fractal dimension
= 1* = 1.25* = 1.52*

Notice that as the fractal dimension increases, the

coastline is rougher.

* Dimensions as reported in Eglash, Ron. African Fractals: Modern Computing and Indigenous Design. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1999.
15. Hand calculations led to the following results: South Africa from Hotagterslip to southeast of Heidelberg: close to 1, Great Britain in the
Holyhead region: 1.2 and Norway from south of Namsos to Nesna: 1.5.
23
 The Sierpinski Triangle

Iterating this process produces, in the limit, the Sierpinski Gasket.

The gasket is self-similar, made up of smaller copies of itself.
Slide from presentation of Thomas McGrath: Fab Fractal Frenzy, Fractal Geometry For Girls (FG)2, Gateway Community College, North24 Haven
Campus, June 2, 2006. Reference from the fractal geometry Web site, http://classes.yale.edu/fractals/ of Michael Frame, Benoit Mandelbrot and
Nial Neger. Courtesy of Michael Frame.
 The Chaos Game
Roll die: 1,6 = Top; 2,5 = Left; 3,4 = Right
Mark a new point halfway to the corner (T,L,R) from old point.

The left picture shows 500 points, the right 5000.

Slide from presentation of Thomas McGrath: Fab Fractal Frenzy, Fractal Geometry For Girls (FG)2, Gateway Community College, North 25 Haven
Campus, June 2, 2006. Slide from the fractal geometry Web site, http://classes.yale.edu/fractals/ of Michael Frame, Benoit Mandelbrot and Nial
Neger. Courtesy of Michael Frame.
 The Chaos Game:
An Overlay Experiment

• Distribute dice and a triangle transparency to each

student.

• Each student will roll the dice 20 times and carefully

mark the points.

• Then overlay all of the transparencies.

26
II Comparison of Classical and
Fractal Geometry
Euclidean Geometry Fractal Geometry

• Traditional/over 2000 yrs old • modern discovery

• based on characteristic size or • based on shapes being
scale self-similar
• suits people-made objects • describes shapes of nature
• usually described by formulas • usually based on a
A = 1/2bh, P = 2l + 2w, etc. building process that gets
repeated and repeated

Comparison based on the chart presented in: Barnsley, Devaney, Mandelbrot, Peitgen, Saupe and Voss. The 27
Science of Fractal Images. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1988. 26. Courtesy of Prof. Dr. Heinz-Otto Peitgen.
 Fractals in Nature
Rivers and waterfalls can be fractal
too! Notice the branching.

Reference and above

illustration: Michael
Frame, Natural and
Manufactured Fractals,
http://classes.yale.edu/f
ractals/ . Courtesy of
Michael Frame.

28
Clip Art
 Fractals in the Human Body

“Blood vessels must perform a bit of dimensional

magic. Just as the Koch curve, for example,
squeezes a line of infinite length into a small area,
the circulatory system must squeeze a huge surface
area into a limited volume. The fractal structure that
nature has devised works so efficiently that, in most
tissue, no cell is ever more than three or four cells
away from a blood vessel. Yet the vessels and
blood take up little space, no more than five
percent of the body.”

Reference: Gleick, James. Chaos, Making A New Science.

New York: Penguin Books, 1987. 108.
29
Fractals in the Human Body

Lungs: “The lungs, too, need to pack the greatest

possible surface into the smallest space. An animal’s
ability to absorb oxygen is roughly proportional to the
surface area of its lungs. Typical human lungs pack in
a surface bigger than a tennis court.”

Reference: Gleick, James. Chaos, Making A New Science.

New York: Penguin Books, 1987. 108.

30
Image of human lung cast courtesy of Prof. Ewald R. Weibel, MD, DSc.

Reference: Natural and Manufactured Fractals from the fractal geometry Web site, http://classes.yale.edu/fractals/ of Michael Frame,
Benoit Mandelbrot and Nial Neger.
31
Slide from presentation of Thomas McGrath: Fractals in BMET -- Fractal Models for Diagnosis and Design, Biomedical Symposium, Gateway
Community College, May 11, 2006.
Fractals in the Human Body

“The body is filled with such [fractal]

complexity. In the digestive tract, tissue
reveals undulations within undulations”

Reference: Gleick, James. Chaos, Making A New Science.

New York: Penguin Books, 1987. 108-9.

32
Fractals in the Human Body

“ bronchial branching ... a fractal description

turned out to fit the data.”

“The urinary collection system proved

fractal.”
Reference: Gleick, James. Chaos, Making A New Science.
New York: Penguin Books, 1987. 108-9.

33
 Fractal Dimensions
determined by Taylor,
Micolich and Jonas
using “Box Counting”
method

Fractal Dimension: close to 1

“Composition with Pouring II” (1943) by Jackson Pollock

© 2008 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Pollock, Jackson. Composition with Pouring II 1943, Oil and enamel paint on canvas, 25 x 22 1/8 in. (63.5 cm x
56.2 cm.) Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC

34
Reference: Taylor, “Fractal Expressionism”, On-line: Internet, available at http://plus.maths.org/issue11/features/physics_world/index.html , page 4
 “Number 14, 1948” by Jackson Pollock
Fractal Dimension: 1.45
© 2008 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Pollock, Jackson. Number 14, 1948: Grey, 1948: Grey. Oil and enamel paint on canvas, 25 x 22 1/8 in. (63.5
cm x 56.2 cm.) Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
35
Reference: Taylor, “Fractal Expressionism”, On-line: Internet, available at http://plus.maths.org/issue11/features/physics_world/index.html ,
4
Fractals occur in art too! Here is a painting of Jackson Pollock
who sometimes dripped paint on the canvas laid at his feet.

Fractal
Dimension:
1.67

“Autumn Rhythm:
© 2008 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights
Society (ARS), New York Number 30” (1950)
Pollock, Jackson. Autumn Rhythm: Number 30, 1950, Oil on canvas, 8
ft. 10 1/2 in. x 17 ft. 8 in. (270.5 x 538.4 cm.) Collection: Metropolitan
Museum of Art, George A. Hearn Fund, 1957.
by Jackson Pollock
Reference: Taylor, “Fractal Expressionism”, On-line: Internet, available at http/ ://materialscience.uoregon.edu/fractal_taylor.html,
pp. 4-5. Currently available at http://plus.maths.org/issue11/features/physics_world/index.html .
36
“Blue Poles: Number 11” (1952) by Jackson Pollock
Fractal Dimension: 1.72

© 2008 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Pollock, Jackson. Blue Poles: Number 11, 1952, Enamel and aluminum paint with glass on canvas, 6 ft. 11 in. x 16 feet (210.8 x
487.6 cm.) Collection: Australian National Gallery, Canberra, Australia

Reference: Taylor, “Fractal Expressionism”, On-line: Internet, available at http/ ://materialscience.uoregon.edu/fractal_taylor.html,

page 5. Currently available at http://plus.maths.org/issue11/features/physics_world/index.html . 37
 Name two other artists
Fractal Art
that used fractals in their
art?

Swamp Angel by Max Ernst. 1940. 26 ¼ X 32 ½ inches.

Collection Kenneth McPerson, Rome. © 2008 Artists
Rights Society, New York / ADAGP, Paris

Hokusai Painting: Michael Frame, Fractal Geometry, Yale University, “ Natural and “Fractal Geometry Panorama”,
http://classes.yale.edu/Fractals//welcome.html . Date accessed: October 8, 2006. 38
 Some Final Questions:
1. What did you like best about today’s program?
2. What one new thing did you learn today?
3. What questions do you have?
4. Name a food that is fractal and one that isn’t.

39