Mysterious Patterns: Finding Fractals in Nature

Charming book that teaches and illustrates a math concept that is not often taught in schools. I loved it, and would recommend it for grades K through 6. Teachers, librarians, grandparents, parents -- if you have a kid that loves math and you're struggling to think of a gift, this makes the perfect choice. It's unlikely that the child has ever seen anything like it before.

Fantastic book and author. This brings mathematical concepts down to a child's level in a non-condescending manner. The photos are great as well. Very profound. I also recommend the book on Fibonacci numbers by this same author.

Great way to explain fractals to kids

A fractal is a curve or geometric figure, each part of which has the same statistical character as the whole. Fractals are useful in modeling structures (such as eroded coastlines or snowflakes) in which similar patterns recur at progressively smaller scales, and in describing partly random or chaotic phenomena such as crystal growth, fluid turbulence, and galaxy formation. Many examples of fractal art can be found on the internet.This book shows the familiar repeating patterns of fractals in nature by very nice photographic examples. It's somewhat thin and very easy to understand. I would find the book useful for children or interested adults who have no concept of fractals. None of the fractal mathematical algorithms are mentioned here, although the final page introduces the concept of a Serpienski triangle to draw your own fractal. If you're looking for a book on fractal art, look elsewhere.

My little math genius loved this book!

The author used some everyday things to explain, like broccoli. However, the pictures of broccoli do not really demonstrate true fractal properties, where the smallest part looks the same as a medium sized part or the entire object.They also used a satellite image of the Colorado River to show fractal branching, but the river is very hard to distinguish from the surrounding rocky terrain. The image is almost monochromatic and take from a very high orbit. There are better images that would demonstrate the fractal math that the author is trying to explain.

A wonderful book for children- gorgeous pictures that offer opportunities for conversation.

I love it!

This book is awesome! It was a really engaging format to learn about fractals. I think that it also helps students to mathematize the world around them. The fact that we didn't have a name for fractals until 1975 is exciting. Think about how many more mathematical discoveries await us!

Lots of fun

Make great INFO about PATTERNS.