Hello and welcome to the course "Introduction to fractals and scaling"
I'm Dave Feldman, professor in physics and mathematics at college of the Atlantic
in Bar harbor, Maine
Thanks for signing up for the course and thanks for stopping by to check it out
In this introductory video I want to say a little bit about some of the goals
for the course and then go over some important logistical information
The goals for the course are for you to gain a grounded modern introduction
to the subjects of fractals and scaling
This means learning what a fractal is and learning about different types of
dimensions and what they mean and how they are used to characterize fractals
We'll also explore the connection between fractals and power laws,
talk about what power laws mean, also what it means to say that
something exhibit scaling
We will conclude the course by looking at some relatively recent applications
of this idea of scaling to first metabolic systems, then to urban systems
The math background for the course is as follows;
I'll use a little bit of algebra, not much,
but there are a few topics, exponents and logarithms
that I will use a lot.
If you're not familiar with these, don't worry, in this unit there's an optional
review for people that want to brush up on these topics
If you're worried about your math background I would say:
Don't worry about it, give it a shot! I'll review difficult topics as they come up
It will always be possible to get help in the discussion forums for the course
Next; a few logistical items; First, if you haven't taken a course with us before
I'd suggest checking out the video; "How to use Complexity explorer"
You can find this video on the right on the main page for the course
It's one of the blue bars on the upper right
This short video tells you about the site in general
and how our complexity explorer courses work so you might want to check that out
Second, a reminder to check out and post in the course forum if you like
This is a great place to ask questions and to engage in discussions with
some of the other students who are in the class
Also, if you notice that something isn't working,,broken links or there's a type-o
or something seams wrong be sure to let us know
Posting in the forum is usually the best way to do that
you could also contact us on twitter
This is the first time we're doing the course
There are bound to be a few type-os and glitches along the way
I'm counting on you to help point them out so we can correct them really quickly
Lastly a note about the course scedule There are 7 or 8 units in this course
My plan is to release a new unit every monday
That schedule might shift a little bit but that's my plan for now
I'll be posting frequent updates on the course forum and also via Twitter
About once a week I'll post larger updates to the class via e-mail
You can stay in touch in a number of different ways
Again, Welcome to the course Thanks of stopping by
I'm glad you joined us Let's get started!