What is Fractal Geometry Good For?
Fractal geometry is a compact way of encoding the enormous complexity of many natural objects. By iterating a relatively simple construction rule, we see how an original simple object can be transformed into an enormously complex one by adding ever increasing detail to it, at the same time preserving affinity between the whole and the parts, or scale invariance. Just think of a big oak tree in winter. Its branches are naked so it is easy to distinguish the way in which a twig splits and becomes two which then split again, to become four; in much the same way in which the trunk first split into slender branches which split again and then again, and again. The self-similarity is evident, the whole looks just like its parts, yet not exactly. Nature has slightly altered the construction rule, introducing some degree of randomness which will make one oak slightly different from any other oak tree in the world. Now, imagine packing all the information required by the tree to become a beautif
