Fractal World by Dave Ryan - www.fractalworld.co.uk

Last updated 20th May 2008

A fractal is an intricate mathematical shape which looks like artwork. Fractals are created by repeating a drawing style at smaller and smaller length scales. This website showcases different types of fractals and their countless uses.

Fractals are fun, beautiful and useful all at the same time! Most things you can use them for haven't been invented yet... This journal investigates what they are good for, as well as the general principles. There's examples to help you explore fractals too. If you find something cool, get in contact! I'm Dave, and most weeks I'll be writing a new issue especially for your inspiration - please enjoy!

View the contents page.

Current issue: Week 30 - Mask Fractals.

First issue: Week 1 - Initial Pictures and Ideas.

More about Dave Ryan.

Quick links to each week:
Week 1 - Initial Pictures and Ideas    Week 2 - Sierpinski Sieve, Generator Diagrams    Week 3 - Regular Square Fractals    Week 4 - Regular Triangular Fractals    Week 5 - Fractal Iteration and Recursion    Week 6 - Linked Fractals    Week 7 - Simple Fractal Dimension    Week 8 - Real World Applications    Week 9 - Bricks and Cages    Week 10 - Similarity Dimension    Week 11 - Linked Fractal Dimension    Week 12 - Moments    Week 13 - Moment Example 1    Week 14 - Moment Example 2    Week 15 - Moment Example 3    Week 16 - Pretty Pictures    Week 17 - Three important fractals: Cloud, Dragon, Koch curve    Week 18 - Variable Dimension along a Fractal Curve    Week 19 - Linked Bricks and Cages    Week 20 - Graph Connected Fractal Systems    Week 21 - Connected Fractals    Week 22 - Dimension at different length scales    Week 23 - Infinite dimension and mazes    Week 24 - Negative dimension and astrophysics    Week 25 - Complex dimension and fireworks    Week 26 - Dimension of affine fractals    Week 27 - Generator diagrams are not unique    Week 28 - Fractal Boundaries    Week 29 - Girder Fractals (2D)    Week 30 - Mask Fractals   

The subjects for each week come in no particular order, but over time pages will get linked together according to their subject matter.

Purpose of Fractal World:

I work with fractals because they're fun, unique, interesting, diverse and useful! Its possible to keep on inventing new ones all day. However... instead of doing that, I want to share the good stuff here on the web. This website is dedicated to fractals and their multitude of uses.

Fractals have been a hobby of mine for several years now. Many people know about the Mandelbrot set and the Sierpinski sieve, but when I started doodling on paper I found a vast range of other possibilities. Fractals have uses all over the place, you just have to look aroud you. Trees, clouds, bridges, coastlines, soapy water, sponges, galaxies... the applications of fractal maths are endless!

Better education about fractals in society would mean a better appreciation of the real world, and what's possible with materials science. I've written this website to open people's eyes to the possibilities. The world is full of inspirational things and I want to share some of the good stuff here. Hope you enjoy reading through!

Fun things:

Can you spot the secret blue dot?!
Cool linked fractal with a secret blue dot!

Some similar looking triangle fractals:
Triangle Fractal (223)    Triangle Fractal (226)    Triangle Fractal (236)    Triangle Fractal (253)    Triangle Fractal (256)    Triangle Fractal (266)    Triangle Fractal (526)    Triangle Fractal (556)   
Can you spot the differences between each of them?

Interesting links:

Copyright 2008 Dave Ryan
Email: info08 @ fractalworld . co . uk (remove spaces!)

www.fractalworld.co.uk