Arthur C Clarke and fractal geometry

Great old school doc on fractal geometry featuring inteviews with Stephen Hawkings,Professor Ian Stewart,Dr Michael Barnsley and Dr Mandlebrocht:

Arthur C. Clarke presents this unusual documentary on the mathematical discovery of the Mandelbrot Set (M-Set) in the visually spectacular world of fractal geometry. This show relates the science of the M-Set to nature in a way that seems to identify the hand of God in the design of the universe itself.
Dr. Mandelbrot in 1980 discovered the infinitely complex geometrical shape called the Mandelbrot Set using a very simple equation with computers and graphics.

Part one:
www.youtube.com...

Part two:
www.youtube.com...

Part three:
www.youtube.com...

[edit on 02/10/08 by karl 12]

Brilliant observations by brilliant thinkers. I've always thought there was a very basic yet complex beauty in fractals simply because their structures can describe so many things in the physical world, from the miniscule to the macroscale...and they can go on forever in both directions.

I believe if we ever truly understood consciousness, we would find a fractal structure as well. Considering that all things have some level of consciousness, the pattern of awareness would be repeated on many levels. The image below represents the levels of consciousness as fibers forming cords, then ropes, then fabric and so on. It could all very easily be represented as a never ending fractal zoom.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/8a35d2a933fe.jpg[/atsimg]

I've also come to view time as a fractal with repeating patterns, and this idea has become popular among thinkers of today. (In fact I'm currently reading "Fractal Time" by Gregg Braden). I would have loved to get Clarke's take on time's patterns - I'm fairly sure he could have applied fractal geometry to his own life in some way.

Great documentary by the way, I remember seeing it when I was dabbling with a fractal graphic design program at some stage - here's one of my fav's, not a Mandelbrot, but pretty nonetheless:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/f43e11ea4cce.jpg[/atsimg]

reply to post by Evasius


Evasius,thanks for the reply - very interesting stuff
They're very beautiful to look at and I certainly agree with your comments about the miniscule and the macroscale.

Theres a truly mindboggling collection of fractals at this link:
www.incubism.com...

Have always liked this one:
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/606a9b22d394.jpg[/atsimg]
Cheers.

[edit on 02/10/08 by karl 12]

Hello, I have notice this fractal phenomenon on the earths surface.



I'm sorry if the slideshow seems dodgy. I decided to draw what I see from scratch to better emphasize the geometric formation.
Please follow up these slideshows by opening google earth and seeing for yourself.
It is with this structural formation, that the surface of the earth was used as a Geometric Grid Paper Canvas to display artworks in the form of multi perspective,multi layed, multi directional "land surface embossings" with the natural colours of the earth and flora being the paint, making the surface of the earth a Pop-up Book with the Sun as the pages. As the sun rises and passes over the horizon, the images change.



I have a curious question. If all this just happens to be thought of as complete crap now but was disclosed later by the powers that be, would you accept it ?And if you would, would it have been because it came from an Authority and not from an everyday civilian citizen. I'm just curious as to how many people, who see these images as I do, trust what their eyes are showing them. Would anyone trust an Authority figure over thier own eyes?

reply to post by Exoviewer


Exoviewer-thanks for the reply.
Alas the links don't work

shoot, I just found out he passed away in 08
Was there an RIP thread created?
Anyone know