3.00 Credits
Through hands-on activities, computer experiments, visual readings, discussions, and lectures, this course will examine the concepts of iteration, fractals, and chaos, as well as the history and people involved in this fascinating field. The course will begin by looking at the basic concept of iteration: repeatedly applying some specified operation. Iteration leads naturally to, among other things, the geometric representation of a fractal, self-similarity, fractal dimension, and the notion of mathematical chaos. Students will learn concepts from classical mathematics and ways in which these concepts can be applied to model and explain real-world scenarios. Additionally they will be shown that mathematics is a current, active, useful, and dynamic field of study.