Cliff Pickover - Fractal Advice and Experts

Below is a list of my favorite fractal gurus. I find them to be experts in many areas, invaluable fonts of information on fractals -- and all with very kind demeanors.

These days computer-generated fractal patterns are everywhere. From squiggly designs on computer art posters to illustrations in the most serious of physics journals, interest continues to grow among scientists and, rather surprisingly, artists and designers. The word "fractal" was coined in 1975 by mathematician and IBM fellow Benoit Mandelbrot to describe an intricate-looking set of curves, many of which were never seen before the advent of computers with their ability to quickly perform massive calculations. Fractals often exhibit self-similarity which means that various copies of an object can be found in the original object at smaller size scales. The detail continues for many magnifications -- like an endless nesting of Russian dolls within dolls. Some of these shapes exist only in abstract geometric space, but others can be used as models for complex natural objects such as coastlines and blood vessel branching. Interestingly, fractals provide a useful framework for understanding chaotic processes and for performing image compression. The dazzling computer-generated images can be intoxicating, motivating students' interest in math more than any other mathematical discovery in the last century.

Physics

Fractal expert in topics dealing with physics, art, neural nets, and various facets of strange attractors and chaos:

Professor J. Clint Sprott

Mathematics

Fractal expert in the profound mathematics of fractals and Mandelbrot Sets:

Professor Michael Frame

Fractal expert in the profound mathematics of fractals and root-finding methods:

Professor Clifford Reiter

Education

Fractals in the classroom: Michael Frame, J. Clint Sprott, Cliff Rieter (see above).

Pure Art

Paul Carlson

The Infinite Fractal Loop

Pickover Books

Many of my own books discuss the artistic and practical use of fractals. Return to my web page for more information. Some recent books include Chaos and Fractals: A Computer Graphical Journey, Fractal Horizons: The Future Use of Fractals, The Loom of God: Mathematical Tapestries at the Edge of Time, and Chaos in Wonderland: Visual Adventures in a Fractal World among many others. I also edit the Chaos and Graphics section of Computers and Graphics and look forward to contributions on the topic of fractals.
Return to Cliff Pickover's home page which includes the Wishing Project cataloging wishes from various cultures, computer art, educational puzzles, fractals, virtual caverns, JAVA/VRML, alien creatures, black hole artwork, and animations.