What do you see when you look at the photo above?

I see fractals.  Most people probably don’t see fractals.  And for those who don’t know what fractals are Webster’s definition is:

fractal: any of various extremely irregular curves or shapes for which any suitably chosen part is similar in shape to a given larger or smaller part when magnified or reduced to the same size

So basically it is how a tree grows.  Look at the tree trunk and how it branches off in two.  Then each of those pieces branch off in two and so on.

Go outside and you’ll see all kinds of cool fractal growth patterns in nature.

This video of a slow zoom into the Mandelbrot set, the most famous computer generated fractal, demonstrates the self-similarity beautifully.  Watch in full screen mode to experience the full effect.

FractalNet HD – Slow deep Mandelbrot zoom from Michael Hogg on Vimeo.

Math is more than numbers.  Next time you are outside find some fractals to admire and discover the hidden beauty of mathmatics in nature’s growth patterns.

Image credits:  tree | mosaic | snowflake | tree canopy