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you can tell mandelbrot was a cool guy because he paid careful attention to the art of naming. "fractal" is one of the best names anyone's ever come up with for anything and it's clear from this passage that he knew exactly what he was doing: > I coined fractal from the Latin adjective fractus. The corresponding Latin verb frangere means "to break:" to create irregular fragments. It is therefore sensible - and how appropriate for our needs! - that, in addition to "fragmented" (as in fraction or refraction), fractus should also mean "irregular," both meanings preserved in fragment. and damn: > (Since algebra derives from the Arabic jabara = to bind together, fractal and algebra are etymological opposites!) a fractal is something that is broken, fragmented into pieces, irregular, but not wrong
