I like it when mathematics ceases to be just a numerical record. Rows of numbers, boxes and graphs don't do much for me. But when maths takes shape - then my interest grows. I noticed in primary school that I was very much an outlier in my maths classes - topics that my classmates did well with - I found very difficult. Until we came to descriptive geometry.

That's when I learnt about the 'spatial sense'. Or rather that I have one :D We glued three-dimensional geometrical figures out of paper and drew technical projections of these figures. I discovered that there was, however, a part of mathematics that was very close to me. At the same time, what I didn't have any problems with was causing a lot of trubles for my classmates. I helped others to glue models together before classes, drew prisms for them in their notebooks and calculated volumes. For a while, everything was so easy....

Never-ending pattern

I discovered fractals at the end of primary school. I drew them passionately on the covers of my notebooks without knowing what I was actually drawing. A fractal is an endless pattern that is similar to itself but at different scales. The whole process is not very complicated - you simply repeat the pattern in ongoing feedback loop. Everyone usually sees something familiar in fractals when looking at them - and there is good reason for that. Nature is filled to the brim with fractals - trees - both branches and roots, mountains, clouds, rivers, shells... and flowers of course!

What attracts us so much about plants - apart from the colours, of course - is their piled-up symmetry. One of my favourite examples of a plant fractal are the succulents Aeonium arborescens, which create mathematically perfect compositions and their graceful rosettes resemble flowers.

Visiting my favorite Tree

The photos were taken in Cork, when I visited my Brother couple weeks ago. For one of the walks we went to 'wildlife park Fota'. The place is not just a simply beautiful and very well-maintained park with lots of lawns and lovely picnic areas - but home to all sorts of exotic plant and tree species that many of us are unlikely to encounter on a daily basis.

Most of the trees and shrubs were 'decorated' with plaques bearing the Latin name of the plant and sometimes even the year it was planted. We spent the most time under a giant sequoia. On one of the blogs I've seen someone called sequoia 'Giant Mammoth', I think it is a very appropriate name. It's a plant in the cypress family, and it has many varieties. What the sequoia is famous for, however, is its size - it can reach heights of up to 115.5 m (379 ft), and the diameter of its trunk can be up to 9 m (30 ft).

Do you have a favourite tree?

As always - yours,
Strega Azure

Sources:
https://fractalfoundation.org/resources/what-are-fractals/
https://brilliant.org/wiki/fractals/

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Check my other picture-post from my trip to Cork here:
What's the craic?

All pictures are my authorship if not stated otherwise.

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