fractal

Irregular shape or surface produced by a procedure of repeated subdivision. Generated on a computer screen, fractals are used in creating models of geographical or biological processes (for example, the creation of a coastline by erosion or accretion, or the growth of plants).

Sets of curves with such discordant properties were developed in the 19th century in Germany by Georg Cantor and Karl Weierstrass. The name was coined by the French mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot. Fractals are also used for computer art.

Fractal compression is a method of storing digitally processed picture images as fractals. It uses less than a quarter of the data produced by breaking down images into pixels. The technique was first used commercially in CD-ROM products in 1993.

Fractal geometry Classical geometry is concerned with objects of integer (whole-number) dimensions, for example, one dimensional lines and curves, two dimensional plane figures such as squares and circles, and three dimensional solids such as cubes and spheres. Fractal geometry describes noninteger dimensions as many natural phenomena are better described using dimensions that are between two whole numbers. So a fractal curve will not have a dimension of one but a dimension between one and two depending on how much space it occupies as it twists and curves.