Although this is one of the last slides in my presentation, this was the image that started it all for me. This rendering of the Mandelbrot Set was taught to me by a fellow computer scientist from San Francisco, Melinda Green. Wikipedia credits Melinda with the discovery of this algorithm and they so kindly credit me (Lori Gardi) for coining the term Buddhabrot, which is now commonly used to describe this rendering technique.

Unlike the “bubble universe” image, which uses only the points on the INSIDE of the M-Set, this image is generated using only the points from the OUTSIDE of the Mandelbrot Set. When you generate a histogram of all the “fractal dynamic fields” from the points on the OUTSIDE of the M-Set, this is what you get. The first time I saw one of these images, I was stunned, literally. I had been looking for the “signature of God” inside the Mandelbrot for quite some time, just like the main character in the book Contact (by Carl Sagan), Ellie Arroway, who was looking for a message from God in the digits of PI. This “signature” was much more interesting and profound than the message that Ellie found in the digits of PI.

This image, can be interpreted as a seated buddha, or an angel with wings. However you look at it, you get a mystical feeling from this image.