I love fractals and creating them - unfortunately I have so much browser security switched on that I cant reach these but will look when i'm at a safe computer
I'm no mathematician, but I too find fractals fascinating. BTW -you need java installed to view this. Well worth it.
The whole chaos thing is very interesting. Its also quite easy to understand the principles, things like the Logistic equation provide a fairly gently introduction for someone with an elementary knowledge of calculus and a bit of time.
It's neat we have PCs today to do this stuff. In the old days there was Spiralgraph, where you drew the patterns with a pen and a gear. Not sure if that's really the same as fractals, but similar. There used to be another toy around the 70s that was similar to Spiralgraph but even easier to use. It had about 3 large gears, a pen and paper holder, and numerous holes on one of the gears that adjusted the lever mechanics of the pen arm. The paper was placed on the largest gear. It would produce some great patterns simply by cranking one of the gears by hand. Patterns could be superimposed by putting the lever arm in a different hole and cranking again. It came with an assortment of pen colors too. .
I had a Spirograph when i was little. Cant remember all the bits but it had lots of pens and funny shaped wheels. Though the pattterns it generates are not fractals as it doesn't have an infinite level of detail.
I found a place where all the different types of fractal imaging software can be downloaded but I lost my bookmarks whe I reformatted ny computer. I will see if I can find that place. I am not a mathematician but I like reading the descriptions of the concepts behind a the idea of fractals, such as it is the proof that complex things can be made from less complex things. I believe fractals are one shape reiterated with slight variations to produce a complex shape that is the same at all levels of magnitude isnt it? Whenever I want to know something I look in wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal
is there any way to do this on the ipad? Im looking to start making some linux GNOME would work too. what are some programs? Id appreciate any help.
