What do movie special effects, the stock market, heart attacks and the
rings of Saturn have in common? They all consist of fractals — irregular
repeating shapes found in cloud formations and tree limbs, stalks of broccoli and craggy mountain ranges, and even in the rhythm
of the human heart. With its latest superlative hour-long documentary release, NOVA takes viewers on an intriguing scientific exploration of this radical new branch of geometry, shining a spotlight on the man who pioneered the field.

For thousands of years, classical math was used in the cause of human creation and advancement, whether to build the pyramids or study the Parthenon. The patterns of nature, however, proved more elusive to distill to numbers. Fractals: Hunting the Hidden Dimension looks at a group of pioneering mathematicians determined to decipher the rules that govern fractal geometry. At the center is Benoit Mandelbrot, a Yale professor who grew up as a hunted Jewish civilian in Nazi-occupied France, and hooked on with IBM in 1958, tackling myriad problems associated with data transfer during the early stages of the development of computers. His groundbreaking work on the 1960s and ’70s, building on Georg Koch’s namesake curve — used to describe the “finer indentations” of national coastlines, and how smaller units of measurement yielded ever larger estimates — opened up important new threads of discussion and thought about longstanding “mathematical monsters.”

Though Mandlebrot’s theories were met with predictable scorn at first, the remarkable and interesting thing is how these findings about fractals — in addition to deepening our understanding of nature — are also shown to have stimulated a new wave of scientific, medical and artistic innovation stretching from the ecology of the rainforest to Jhane Barnes’ fashion design. Industrial Light & Magic’s Willi Geiger even demonstrates the importance of fractals in a scene from Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith. Other lively interview subjects like UC-Santa Cruz professor Ralph Abraham, as well as Mandlebrot himself, make this title an engaging treat.

Housed in a regular plastic Amaray case, Fractals: Hunting the Hidden Dimension is presented in anamorphic widescreen with a static menu screen, its picture suitably clear and its English 5.1 stereo audio mix crisp and free from any background buzz or hiccups. It includes English SDH subtitles and described video for the visually impaired, along with a spare collection of DVD-ROM materials and activities for educators, and a reference link to the NOVA web site. The title is also available on Blu-ray, a first for any home video release from WGBH Boston Video. To purchase any DVD release from WGBH, including Fractals, phone (800) 949-8670, or click here. A- (Movie) C (Disc)