What do movie special effects, the stock market, heart attacks and the rings of Saturn have in common? They're all connected by a revolutionary new branch of math called fractals, which has changed the way we see the world and opened up a vast new territory to scientific analysis and understanding.
Fractals, like the air you breathe, are all around you. Their irregular, repeating shapes are found in cloud formations and tree limbs, in stalks of broccoli and craggy mountain ranges, even in the rhythm of the human heart
Fractals aren't new, as evidenced by the endlessly repeating triangular flourishes that rise atop this centuries-old cathedral wall. NOVA tells the dramatic story of a group of pioneering mathematicians who developed fractals from a curiosity that few took seriously to an approach that is touching nearly every branch of understanding — including what happened after the Big Bang and the ultimate fate of our universe.
Watch the full episode. See more NOVA.
Wednesday at 9 p.m. on PBS-HD.
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