[1] : WordNet (r) 2.0

fractal
     n : mathematics a geometric pattern that is repeated at every
         scale and so cannot be represented by classical geometry

[2] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

fractal
     
         a fractal is a rough or fragmented
        geometric shape that can be subdivided in parts, each of which
        is at least approximately a smaller copy of the whole.
        fractals are generally self-similar bits look like the whole
        and independent of scale they look similar, no matter how
        close you zoom in.
     
        many mathematical structures are fractals; e.g. sierpinski
        triangle, koch snowflake, peano curve, mandelbrot set
        and lorenz attractor.  fractals also describe many
        real-world objects that do not have simple geometric shapes,
        such as clouds, mountains, turbulence, and coastlines.
     
        benoit mandelbrot, the discoverer of the mandelbrot set,
        coined the term "fractal" in 1975 from the latin fractus or
        "to break".  he defines a fractal as a set for which the
        hausdorff besicovich dimension strictly exceeds the
        topological dimension.  however, he is not satisfied with
        this definition as it excludes sets one would consider
        fractals.
     
        sci.fractals faq
        ftp://src.doc.ic.ac.uk/usenet/usenet-by-group/sci.fractals/.
     
        see also fractal compression, fractal dimension, iterated
        function system.
     
        usenet newsgroups: news:sci.fractals,
        news:alt.binaries.pictures.fractals, news:comp.graphics.
     
        "the fractal geometry of nature", benoit mandelbrot.
     
        are there non-self-similar fractals?
     
        1997-07-02
     
     
see also:
sierpinski triangle koch snowflake peano curve mandelbrot set lorenz attractor benoit mandelbrot 
hausdorff besicovich dimension topological dimension lt;sci.fractals faqgt; fractal compression fractal dimension 
iterated function system usenet lt;news:sci.fractalsgt; lt;news:alt.binaries.pictures.fractalsgt; lt;news:comp.graphicsgt; 

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