# Spiral Fractal

By Murray Bourne, 13 Nov 2004

Hey - I love these things! Here's one called "Spiral Fractal".

Is this just a 'nerd' thing or does anyone else find them attractive?

Fractals are built on specific iterations of complex numbers. You can see some mathematical background on the concept here: Fractals, in the Complex Numbers chapter of IntMath.

Image credit: This and other fractal images are freely available from here.

### 3 Comments on “Spiral Fractal”

1. Judith says:

Lovely! i was looking for this - a spiral fractal. I'm not a nerd, I'm arithmetically challenged. I wanted an image for a website to support kids in 'acts for change' after workshops we run in schools. Even more attractive than strange attractors (books on maths with no numbrs suit me very well). THANK YOU for this!

2. Natalie says:

I LOVE fractals! I'm only an undergrad student, and I've just started my math degree but whenever I'm looking up random stuff on the internet its usually about fractals. 🙂

I have this really awful tattoo from when I was 17 and I keep trying to think of things to cover it up with. Once I learn more about fractals, I'm pretty sure I'm going to cover this shitty tattoo up with a nice aesthetically pleasing tattoo.

It's not just a nerd thing, I barely consider myself a nerd(even if others beg to differ).
Plus waves are fractal and so many people can see the beauty behind waves (the ones in the ocean)! Fractals are very aesthetically pleasing and I don't think it takes a nerd to appreciate their beauty 😀

3. Murray says:

Hi Natalie and thanks for your input.

I guess you also saw Fractal tattoos here.

Yes, fractals are used in computer graphics renditions of water. It has been one of the holy grails over movie making for many years.

Nerd-ness has become somewhat more respectable after the advent of Bill Gates. But none of us really like to be told 🙂

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