Fractals are generally self-similar and independent of scale.
Fractals also describe many real-world objects, such as clouds, mountains, turbulence, and coastlines, that do not correspond to simple geometric shapes. This Fractal FAQ was created and edited by Ken Shirriff through September 26, 1994. The current editor is Ermel Stepp. Thus, fractals graphically portray the notion of 'worlds within worlds' which has obsessed Western culture from its tenth-century beginnings. Beck further explains that when we look very closely at patterns that are Euclidean, the shapes look more and more like straight lines, but that when you look at a fractal up close you see more and more details.