“Featuring gorgeous photography throughout, Mysterious Patterns: Finding Fractals in Nature is a picturebook that teaches young readers the basics about fractals – recurring patterns that are “the same near as far”, commonly found in nature. … An afterword about Benoit Mandelbrot, one of the first mathematicians to understand and teach others about fractals, rounds out…

“In Mysterious Patterns: Finding Fractals in Nature, Sarah C. Campbell, aided by photographs she and her husband, Richard P. Campbell took, explains what does (lightning) and doesn’t (a swallowtail caterpillar’s markings) constitute a fractal. She delivers a tidy education, gives a nod to the use of fractals in the built world, and offers the hope…

“Through examples of what fractals are and what they aren’t, this photo essay introduces a complex mathematical idea in a simple, inviting way. Using a straightforward text and eye-catching photographs, the Campbells start with the familiar: spheres, cones, cylinders—shapes readers can find and readily name in their environments. But then they move on to the…

“Bring up the math term fractals in a roomful of adults, and it’s likely quite a few eyes will glaze over. Yet wife-and-husband team Sarah and Richard Campbell succeeds in making fractals accessible and engaging to—get this—the elementary-school crowd. Sarah Campbell’s writing is clear, fluid, and concise, effortlessly so. … Glossy, well-designed pages feature crisp,…

“Using clear text and outstanding color photographs, Campbell explores the concept of these unusual shapes. Beginning with circles, cones, and cylinders, she leads readers carefully and concisely through examples of fractals such as trees, rivers, mountains, broccoli, lightning, and lungs. The photographs, sometimes highlighting the ever-smaller pieces of a vegetable fractal against a black background,…

“The husband-and-wife team behind Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature (2010) demystify the concept of fractals, which mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot used to help understand complicated shapes in nature…. This fascinating exploration should awaken readers’ powers of observation and appreciation for the intricacies of nature.” Read Full Review