Glossary of Terms
- attractor
- a set of numerical values toward which the result of an iterated function is drawn, or attracted
- bifurcation
- branching, or splitting, as in the branches of a tree, or a fork
- bifurcation diagram
- a diagram produced (by iteration) in
which bifurcation is a pronounced characteristic
- BIF
- the computer program supplied with this text which
produces a bifurcation diagram
- chaos
- a state or condition which has no apparent orderly or predictable progression
- default
- the value assumed by a variable or parameter when none has been supplied by the user (of a program)
- DOS
- Disk Operating System; a computer program, or set of
programs, that manages the storage and retrieval of data
on a disk drive, and performs other necessary computer
functions
- Euclidean geometry
- a branch of mathematics dealing with the relationships between points, lines, polygons, etc.
Named for Euclid, an ancient scholar who formulated many
of the fundamental ideas still in use today
- feedback
- a portion of a function's output which is returned, or 'fed back' to its input
- fractal
- a set for which the Hausdorff Besicovitch dimension strictly exceeds the topological dimension; a set (of numbers which may define an object or image) having a non-integer dimension
- fractal geometry
- a branch of mathematics dealing with the study of fractals
- function
- a entity which acts upon an input to produce an output; an equation
- geometry of nature
- see fractal geometry
- IT!
- the computer program supplied with this text which performs iteration of a function and displays or prints the results
- iteration
- a mathematical process involving the repetitive solution of a function using feedback
- Mandelbrot, Benoit
- a mathematician who founded the branch of mathematics known as fractal geometry
- Malthus, Sir Thomas
- an 18th-century economist whose theories on population growth can be expressed in a 'population equation', which can then be iterated to produce a bifurcation diagram. The actual statements of his theories are irrelevant to the study of fractals; the equations and their unusual behavior are modern-day discoveries
- Malthusian Theory
- a popular name for the theory of Sir Thomas Malthus
- mathematical monster
- a term used in the 19th century to describe some of the early mathematical experiments which are now studied in fractal geometry
- order
- a state or condition which is stable or predictable
- parameter
- a type of variable which places controls or conditions on a process; the user can usually modify the parameters to observe specific results
- period-doubling
- bifurcation
- population equation
- an equation used to represent the growth of populations, containing a feedback element which represents the the factors that influence such growth
- seed value
- an initial starting value for a variable in an iterated function
- self-similarity
- a phenomenon where a small portion of an image or object, when magnified, resembles the original
- strange attractor
- an attractor that does not appear to consist of a finite number of elements. The set of values in a strange attractor often fall within a range of values. Often associated with chaotic regions of fractal images
- zoom
- to magnify
Bibliography
- The Fractal Geometry of Nature/Benoit B. Mandelbrot;
© 1983 W.H. Freeman and Co.
ISBN 0-7167-1186-9
- Dynamical Systems and Fractals/Karl-Heinze Becker;
© 1989 Cambridge University Press
ISBN 0-521-36910-X
- Fractal Programming in Turbo Pascal/Roger T. Stevens;
© 1990 M & T Publishing
ISBN 1-55851-106-7
- Chaos and Fractals, The Mathematics Behind the Computer
Graphics/Robert L. Devaney and Linda Keen, Ed.
Proceedings of Symposia in Applied Mathematics, Vol. 39;
© 1989 The American Mathematical Society
ISBN 0-8218-0137-6