Beyond fractals

摘要

Since Benoit Mandelbrot first brought fractals to the attention of the world, their self-similar mystique has wormed its way into the physical, biological and actuarial sciences, as well as psychology and abstract art. Describing the seemingly disordered world with such geometrical simplicity has long been a target of reductionism. However, using simple fractals hasn't been entirely successful: the world isn't quite that easy to describe with algebra.