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!