Abstract
Fractals help us understand physiological systems in two different ways. First, they provide a phenomenological description. Since fractals have qualitatively different properties than nonfractals, just the realization that we are working with a fractal is important. This realization can actually be difficult, even if the pattern is “obvious.” Thus, it has been a significant surprise each time yet another physiological system was found to be fractal, such as the branching of the airways in the lung, or the distribution of blood flow in the heart, or the kinetics of ion channels.
The Master of the oracle at Delphi does not say anything and does not conceal anything, he only hints.
Heraclitus, fragment #93 (as cited in Diels, 1901)
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© 1994 American Physiological Society
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Bassingthwaighte, J.B., Liebovitch, L.S., West, B.J. (1994). Mechanisms That Produce Fractals. In: Fractal Physiology. Methods in Physiology Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7572-9_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7572-9_12
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7572-9
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