This science of trees inspired my colleague and me to measure the scaling of tree branch diameter in art. Among my favorite images is a carving of a tree from a late-medieval mosque in India.

The math concept hidden in this tree art — geometric shapes known as fractals ... a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin. Like the branches, twigs and leaves of a tree, fractals ...

and empirically compare art with theories of branch thickness developed in biology,” researchers explained. open image in gallery Leonardo da Vinci's sketch of a tree illustrates the principle ...