Calling all art-snivelers

[anti_cyclone]

I'm writing a couple of introductory paragraphs for this book I'm working on. It's ridiculously difficult to condense everything I want to say into a small, reasonable amount of text. The goal here is to provide just enough information that a non-mathematical, art-oriented person would be interested, but not so much that it would confuse them.

Comments

[quietlylost]

It's still a bit haughty and sterile. Mentioning names and math terminology doesn't really seem to help. Explaining the process does work, though.

[sanspoof]

Might want to mention ice? Ice is probably the fractaliest substance people come into contact with often.
I like it. Although honestly my perspective is not probably the right one. I read too many science books.

[il_professore]

I find nothing about this that would be troubling to someone with a reasonable vocabulary. The potentially confusing terms, non-Euclidean and iteration, are actually defined elsewhere in the text for the benefit of those unfamiliar with them. Given that it's as impossible to describe fractals without mentioning math as it is to describe accounting without mentioning money, I think you've managed to produce a description that's concise, accurate, and readable. Well done.

[jamiam]

It's not troubling - it just has no "hook." It's a list of facts. Very factual facts, at that.

On the other hand, I think the inclusion of text is a very, excellent idea, and all that information should be in there somewhere. I would just start with something grabby, a why fractals are cool! aimed first at art people, then at tech and math people. Like, haven't there been studies of why certain fractal dimensions are more visually appealing to people, and how Jackson Pollack's stuff was actually quite close to the "ideal" aesthetic value?

I would re-order, put the second paragraph first, and even start with the question: "Complexity from a simple process? Think of a million water droplets, coming together to form a cloud. A fractal process is..." Or even: "How does Nature make Beauty?" Something unexpected, that goes straight to the artsy, aesthetic goodness.

But absolutely include the text! Include the facty facts! Do not doubt!

(Don't forget shorelines and trees...!)

[pbprincess]

My only critique would be this sentence:
"Mandelbrot's early images, made in the mid-70s, were crude and slow."

labour intensive perhaps instead of slow?
Because time lapse doesn't really have much to do with a static image (as I perceive these are?)