20101021

A mathematical principle of cauliflowers



These are some beautiful images created with mathematical shapes known as fractals, which were discovered by mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot who died recently at the age of 85.
In his seminal work, Fractals: Form, Chance and Dimension and The Fractal Geometry of Nature, he argued that seemingly random mathematical shapes in fact followed a pattern if broken down into a single repeating shape. "If you cut one of the florets of a cauliflower, you see the whole cauliflower but smaller," he said.
His mathematical principle I don't think I can understand, but the shape of a cauliflower is repeated over and over in the florets, well, this I do seem to notice when I cook.

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