How Long is the Coast of Britain?
Answer: Infinity!
It's like a math riddle. The idea was originated by Richardson and then published by Mandlebrot in '67, and essentially goes like this: to measure the coast say you take a "ruler" that's 100 miles long and touch it end to end all the way round. That's your measurement, right? But if you took a smaller ruler, say 1 mile and remeasured you'd get not only a more accurate number but also a larger one. The smaller ruler would let you fit more closely along turns and corners and edges and actually measure more space. So the number gets bigger. And if you used a one meter ruler, the number would get even bigger! And so on and so forth. Since we can theoretically measure with smaller and smaller distances, the answer gets bigger and bigger which is another way of saying infinity! This is silly I think, but was the birth of fractals, those funky images you see on the internet all the time.
I hope that made sense. I really wish that I am good at explaining science to people who don't have scientific background. I like to make it easy for people to understand, because every one should understand science. It makes the world go round! Literally!
Not much to report today, just trying to get all the hard copies of documents I need for my Visa application, that I graduated from State and Hopkins, that I have money, that I really am enrolled in the school, that I'm not a terrorist, etc. (That was an actual question on the form, swear to God.) Still walking around in a daze from Paul Hamm's performances last night. I am in shock and have never seen anything like that in my gymnastic life. Or maybe any other sporting event. To stay cool like that and keep focus is really what separates winners from losers, no matter how talented each may be......
It's like a math riddle. The idea was originated by Richardson and then published by Mandlebrot in '67, and essentially goes like this: to measure the coast say you take a "ruler" that's 100 miles long and touch it end to end all the way round. That's your measurement, right? But if you took a smaller ruler, say 1 mile and remeasured you'd get not only a more accurate number but also a larger one. The smaller ruler would let you fit more closely along turns and corners and edges and actually measure more space. So the number gets bigger. And if you used a one meter ruler, the number would get even bigger! And so on and so forth. Since we can theoretically measure with smaller and smaller distances, the answer gets bigger and bigger which is another way of saying infinity! This is silly I think, but was the birth of fractals, those funky images you see on the internet all the time.
I hope that made sense. I really wish that I am good at explaining science to people who don't have scientific background. I like to make it easy for people to understand, because every one should understand science. It makes the world go round! Literally!
Not much to report today, just trying to get all the hard copies of documents I need for my Visa application, that I graduated from State and Hopkins, that I have money, that I really am enrolled in the school, that I'm not a terrorist, etc. (That was an actual question on the form, swear to God.) Still walking around in a daze from Paul Hamm's performances last night. I am in shock and have never seen anything like that in my gymnastic life. Or maybe any other sporting event. To stay cool like that and keep focus is really what separates winners from losers, no matter how talented each may be......
