Back in the early 90s, I was lucky enough to help in the production of two Phil Miller CD covers, Double Up and Recent Discoveries. The backgrounds on both sleeves are mathematical structures (graphs) called ‘fractals’, In particular a fractal called the Mandelbrot Set.
These structures have some remarkable properties: they never repeat themselves, regardless of how closely you zoom in. This was something that Phil said would make him dizzy if he thought about it for too long.
The arrival of affordable computers, with enough computing power and graphic capabilities, placed these objects within reach of anyone with an interest. The remarkable thing here is that these patterns and structures were discovered long before the invention of digital computers, by recovering soldiers during World War I, calculating each ‘pixel’ by hand..
At the time, ‘serious’ mathematicians were dismissive, calling these generations “Mathematical Monsters”.
to be continued….