The concept behind fractal geometry is extremely difficult to explain . . . but easy to see and enjoy. Eric Hammel, a professional author of military history books, is unable to explain fractals in a way that will be clear to anyone else, but most mathematicians can’t explain fractals in language most people can understand. The simplest explanation is that fractals are graphic representations of high-order mathematical formulas that repeat patterns to infinity.
Don’t get hung up on the math. It’s really all in the seeing. Volume 1 of Eric Hammel’s Fractal Dimensions is filled with one hundred examples representing many types of fractals. The differences between and among fractal artists using the same array of fractal-generating software is the same as the differences between and among all portrait artists or between and among all landscape artists using oil paint, chalk, watercolors, charcoal, even fingers. It all comes down to the unique mind’s eye the artist brings to the game and what he does to improve or transform the art once the fractal-generating software has been sufficiently exploited.
For all that, all a lay person really needs to appreciate fractals in their infinite varieties is a collection of fractal art to peruse, to get lost in for awhile, and their own preferences for art. No two fractal artists will see or exploit the same fractal formula the same way. What we offer here is simply what one fractal artist has been able to see, and what he alone decided he wants to share.
