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GLOSSARY INQUIRY: FRACTAL GEOMETRY
A non-Euclidean branch of mathematics dealing with extremely irregular shapes or curves, fractal geometry provides many important concepts relevant to the study of complex systems.
Often called the “geometry of nature”, fractal images resemble natural forms, both in appearance and how they are generated. Although they may appear irregular and even chaotic from a Euclidean perspective, fractal forms nonetheless demonstrate coherent and repeating patterns such as self-similarity and scale independence. They are generated recursively: each stage or generation is an elaboration of the previous one, a process that quickly gives rise to surprisingly complex forms. Ferns, cauliflower, water ripples and the surface pattern of riverbeds are a few examples of such forms.
See related terms: Recursion.
The first few iterations (recursive elaborations) of a fractal "tree."
