Before Mandelbrot, mathematicians believed that mathematics should be represented by straight lines. Mandelbrot on the other hand thought outside of the box and received much criticism for doing so. Rather than assume that the straight line attribute must be true, he asked if mathematics could be represented using rough curves instead. This "What If Not" strategy lead to great discoveries beyond that of the mathematics field, such as movie animation and even the fashion industry (NOVA, 2008).
Surprisingly Mandelbrot did not always enjoy mathematics. This all changed when one day in class he discovered that he was able to geometrically visualize algebraic problems with very little difficulty. This allowed him to see things that others could not. Mandelbrot eventually went to work for IBM. At the time IBM was having difficulty with signal noise across the telephone lines being used to transmit data. Mandelbrot graphed the data and noticed that there was a consistent pattern despite how far he zoomed in or out. This pattern reminded him of the monster curves that he learned about as a child (NOVA, 2008). The computer technology at IBM allowed him to run the pattern millions of times. This was something that no one had been able to do before.
I enjoyed learning about fractals and how they can be found in nature and other fields besides mathematics. For myself personally, the movie animation was by far the most interesting part of the entire video. I never realized how much math went into creating the graphics. Shortly after watching this video my husband and I watched a movie. I preceded to tell him about the fractals that had been used to create the mountains in the background. I don't think he was as amused as I was despite all of the math that he uses in the Navy haha!
The movie part was definitely the most interesting! That is too funny about watch the movie with your husband
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