The Recursive Book of Recursion

9 Drawing Fractals

Certainly, the most fun application of recursion is drawing fractals. Fractals are shapes that repeat themselves, sometimes chaotically, at different scales. The term was coined by the founder of fractal geometry, Benoit B. Mandelbrot, in 1975 and is derived from the Latin frāctus, meaning broken or fractured, like shattered glass. Fractals include many natural and artificial shapes. In nature, you might see them in the shapes of trees, fern leaves, mountain ranges, lightning bolts, coastlines, river networks, and snowflakes. Mathematicians, programmers, and artists can create elaborate geometric shapes based on a few ...