Julia Sets
Gaston Maurice Julia (1892-1978) was a French mathematician. He studied these
forms (Julia sets) in the early part of the 20th century. He was the former teacher of Benoit
Mandelbrot. Julia was described as a "brilliant teacher" by Mandelbrot. Julia taught at
Ecole Polytechnique in Paris during the 1940's.
Julia sets are mathematical objects derived by repeated iterations of polynomial equations. Gaston Julia established the idea that the entire boundary (the Julia set) could be regenerated from an exceedingly small piece of the boundary.
For example, if f(x) is a function, a variety of behaviors will arise if f(x) is iterated. The
values that arise (x, f(x), f(f(x)), f(f(f(x))), etc.) will either stay small or eventually become the
"inside" and the "outside" of the set. Varying the original parameters results in the proportion
of the "inside" to the "outside" to alter. At the point where the inside partition disappears
"dusts" are formed which are startlingly beautiful and infinitely intricate.
