In the "Computer Recreations" column of the February 1989 issue of
Scientific American, A.K.Dewdney revisited the Mandelbrot set. (His original
treatment of the topic had been in the August 1985 issue - the one which
brought the M-set to public attention - and he had followed it up in the
November 1987 issue. I have copies of all three - lucky me!
As part of the Feb. '89 article, Dr. Dewdney presented examples of M-set
graphics which had been sent in by readers. One of these was a striking
image entitled "Love Canal" by its discoverer, one Andrew laMance. It
featured a meandering black river-like shape surrounded by beautiful but
dark-coloured contours. It had a disctinct aura of menace about it.
Dr. Dewdney said that he presumed that its name referred to "a certain
infamous polluted site near Niagara Falls, N.Y.", commenting that the black
part suggested "a drainage ditch filled with toxic chemicals where strange
vegetation struggles to survive".
The coordinates of the image's centre were given as (0.235125, 0.82722). The
magnification was quoted as 24,800.
When I attempted to produce my own graphic of the image on the C64, there
didn't appear to be anything much there to see. On a whim, I changed the
x-coordinate to its negative, i.e. -0.235125 - and the result was the
graphic you see above. Quite clearly, I'd hit the spot; the figure given in
the article was simply a misprint.
Unfortunately, the magnification for my image is rather too small. (The part
that interests us is the bluish curvy bit near the centre.) I can't remember
whether this was by accident, or whether the C64 growled about trying to
produce a reasonable graphic with anything better. (Also, it's very evident
that the print-head was nearing the end of its life. In fact, if my memory
serves me correctly, this may be the last printout I ever made with that
printer.)
Either way, that's the only image I've had of it since - until recently,
when I decided to have a go at it on my PC.
I'm rather proud of my PC version. To see it, click
here.
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Humpty Dumpty Book: M-set Picture #12
Described by its discoverer as "Love Canal"
)
ERCKK!
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