This site proves that fractals are more than cool pictures. This web site has lots of good info about fractals. Fractals are all around us in life, though you may not know it. Many people are immediately drawn to the wonderfully, bizarre fractal images. Fractal geometry can visually model what we see in nature - mountains, oceans, and beaches.
Fractal geometry deals with shapes made in nature.
Fractals are also used for things such as modeling soil erosion and analyzing seismic patterns. The Mandelbrot Set has revealed seemingly organic shapes including twig, leaf, flower, fish, seed, and branch shapes. These are often arranged in the midst of flows like air or water. Fractal geometry descibes the kinds of shapes that actually occur in our organic world. This is also true of ocean waves, the ripples on a river, the flames from a bonfire, and of all flows of liquid, air, and fire.