fractal geometry
- noun
- /ˈfræk.təl dʒiˈɒm.ə.tri/
- Specialized
:
geometría fractal
- Fractal geometry studies fractal geometry patterns that repeat at different scales, such as clouds and coastlines.
- Using fractal geometry
He's seen sort of fractal geometry everywhere.
- He's seen sort of fractal geometry everywhere.
Examples
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In Chaos: Making a New Science, James Gleick writes, "One simple but powerful consequence of the fractal geometry of surfaces is that surfaces in contact do not touch everywhere."
Fiction book (1999) -
OK, so with that, we can start to link the fractal geometry to these mathematics.
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Fractal geometry is, at best, a descriptive method of things observed in nature, i.e., empiricism.
Academic text (2009) -
Using fractal geometry to determine boundaries can offer visitors to such regions the opportunity to enjoy exchange across them and can simultaneously minimize the potential for overall damage to broad expanses of shore or forest.
Academic text (1990) -
Fractal geometry is a branch of mathematics devised by IBM mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot.
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Fractal geometry (Barton and LaPointe, 1995) has been highly popularized in recent years as a powerful tool for describing many patterns in nature, including the patterns of fracture networks.
Academic text (1997) -
Many natural phenomena, like snowflakes and mountain ranges, can be described using fractal geometry.
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Artists often use fractal geometry to create intricate designs that resemble nature's repeating patterns.
Surface Forms
Morphology
If a learner knows 'fractal' (a shape with self-similarity) and 'geometry' (the study of shapes), 'fractal geometry' is directly and compositionally the study/geometry of fractals. The noun+noun compound follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern for naming academic subfields, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the meaning, even though the term is somewhat technical.
Etymology
Fractal geometry comes from the idea of shapes that look the same at any size; imagine a fern leaf or a coastline where small parts repeat the whole when you zoom in. Benoit Mandelbrot used the word fractal from a word meaning 'broken' to show these rough, repeating forms, so today fractal geometry means the study of 'patterns that repeat at different sizes'.
