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Fractals: The Geometry of Nature

Revised: September 2020

Course Description

Investigate basic mathematical principles behind fractals with connections to literature, art, science, and the general world. Three semester hours.

Student Learning Objectives

By the end of the course students will be able to:

• Describe the mathematics behind a fascinating topic most students have never studied— fractals;
• Apply mathematical concepts to the fractals around them in literature, art, science, and nature;
• Write clearly and critically about fractals in their own lives and in our world.

MATH 192 is a First Year Seminar Liberal Studies Course. As such, it has the following liberal studies objectives:

• Objective: Means of Expression
• Outcome: Students will craft written and/or oral communication demonstrating organization, clarity, logic, and skill for various audiences.

Text

Introducing Fractals: A Graphic Guide (Icon Books, 2014).

Supplemental Text

Electronic Resources through Canvas.

Grading Procedure

Grading procedures and factors influencing course grade are left to the discretion
of individual instructors, subject to general university policy.

Attendance Policy

Attendance policy is left to the discretion of individual instructors, subject to
general university policy.

Course Outline

• Unit I: The Fundamentals of Fractals & Iterated Function Systems (15 Days)

  We look at the basic concepts of geometric iteration, self-similarity, fractal dimension, multiple reduction copy machines, the chaos game, fractals in nature, and decoding fractals. Students do hands-on group activities, experiment with applets on the web, and discuss assigned readings. Students also learn how to design fractals using basic geometric transformations. We see how fractals can model images with an amazing degree of accuracy, and the information compressed to a simple set of numbers.
  • Unit II: Connections with Arts & Humanities (12 Days)
  
We also discuss examples of fractals found in the arts and humanities. These examples could include but not be limited to: Tom Stoppard's highly entertaining play Arcadia, Wallace Stevens' poem, “The Sail of Ulysses,” Ray Bradbury's A Sound of Thunder, paintings of Jackson Pollock, short animations by Francesca Talenti that provide stunning visual interpretations of fractals and chaos, clips of fractal music, and examples of fractals in popular movies like Jurassic Park. Students discuss assigned reading in class and write about how the topics in this section are related to fractals
  • Unit III: Cellular Automata and Scientific Applications of Fractal Geometry (7 Days)
John Conway's Game of Life (popularized by Martin Gardner in his Scientific American column) describes simple rules that determine the "life" or "death" of the next generation of cells, based on interaction with neighboring cells. They are based on simple rules but show surprisingly complex behavior. Far more than a game with pretty pictures, they are related to exciting new ideas such as artificial life and the edge of chaos. We study examples and patterns and some applications. Students do hands-on activities, use applets on the web to better understand the Game of Life, and participate in group discussions. Then they write a short paper or report on how fractals relate to science and our natural world.
  • Unit IV: A Tour of the Mandelbrot Set.(6 Days)
  We study the fascinating structure of the Mandelbrot set, one of today's most ubiquitous and geometrically intricate figures, exploring some of its geometric and number theoretic properties. Students will experiment with applets on the internet, and participate in group discussions.