Lori Anne Gardi: Difference between revisions

Lori Anne Gardi
Lori Anne Gardi
Born	October 20, 1961
Residence	London, Ontario, Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Alma mater	University of Western Ontario
Known for	Fractal cosmology, the Mandelbrot set as a model of the universe, the Buddhabrot, 3D ultrasound imaging software
	Scientific career
Fields	Software development, medical imaging, fractal cosmology
Institutions	Robarts Research Institute, Western University

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Revision as of 08:50, 17 July 2026

Lori Anne Gardi (born October 20, 1961), also known online as FractalWoman, is a Canadian software developer and independent researcher based in London, Ontario. She works as a senior software developer in medical imaging at the Robarts Research Institute and Western University, and is known outside the mainstream for her independent work on fractal cosmology, in which she argues that the structure of the universe can be understood through the Mandelbrot set.

Biography

Gardi received a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Western Ontario (now Western University) in 1985. After graduating she worked full time in the Astronomy Department at Western, continuing a project she had begun as a summer student. There she designed and built a polarimeter controller used to investigate the magnetic fields of stars, developing the control software in assembly language on a Motorola HC11 single-chip microprocessor. She has described this period as her apprenticeship in how computers work.

When the Astronomy Department began downsizing and merging with Physics, Gardi changed careers and moved into the field of medical imaging. In 1993 she joined the team at the Robarts Research Institute, one of the first groups to develop 3D ultrasound technologies and their applications. Her main area of expertise being control software, she developed acquisition and calibration systems for 3D ultrasound guided biopsy and surgical procedures. She is named on several patents arising from this work and is a co-author of more than thirty peer-reviewed papers in the field of medical imaging, continuing this work at Robarts and Western.

Work

Medical imaging

As a senior software developer at Robarts Research Institute and Western University, Gardi has worked on image-guided and robot-assisted medical imaging systems, contributing software for 3D ultrasound guided biopsy, prostate interventions, breast brachytherapy planning, and related surgical procedures. Her published medical-imaging research spans acquisition, calibration, and mechatronic systems for image-guided interventions.

Fractal cosmology

Gardi's independent research into fractal cosmology began in the mid-1980s, after the Mandelbrot set algorithm was popularized by A. K. Dewdney's "Computer Recreations" column in Scientific American. She first implemented the algorithm in BASIC on a Commodore 64 and has explored the set in increasing detail as computing power has grown, developing software able to render and zoom into the Mandelbrot set in near real time.

From this study Gardi developed the view that the Mandelbrot set is more than a mathematical curiosity, proposing that the universe is itself fractal in nature at all knowable scales. Her approach models the universe as an iterated function system analogous to the Mandelbrot iteration z = z² + c, where z and c are complex numbers. She has described the Mandelbrot set as a "quasi-black hole," suggesting that black-hole-like structures recur self-similarly across many scales, including the atomic and quantum scales. Rather than seeking to unify the forces of physics, she argues for "unifying scales" by calibrating physical relationships at one scale and applying them across all scales. Gardi coined the term "Bubblebrot" for a variant of the Buddhabrot rendering, which she treats as central to this body of work.

These ideas fall outside mainstream physics and cosmology. Gardi has presented her work at conferences of the Chappell Natural Philosophy Society (CNPS) and published articles through independent, non-mainstream outlets.

Mathematical art

Gardi is also a digital and mathematical artist working under the name FractalWoman. Her fractal renderings, including the works Bubblebrot-Buddhabrot and Singularity (both 2017), were exhibited in the Mathematical Art Galleries at the 2017 Bridges Conference on mathematics, art, and culture.

Selected works

"The Mandelbrot Set as a Quasi-Black Hole" (2017)
"The Mandelbrot set and the fractal nature of light, the Universe, and everything"

External links

FractalWoman.com — personal website
ResearchGate profile

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 | alt = Lori Anne Gardi
 | birth_date = {{birth date|1961|10|20|mf=y}}
-| fields = [[Senior Software Developer in Medical Imaging]]
 | residence = London, Ontario, Canada
 | nationality = Canadian
-| known_for = [[Fractal Cosmology]], [[computes]], [[fractals]], [[chaos theory]], [[physics]], [[astronomy]], [[black holes]], [[event horizons]], [[singularities]], [[quantum mechanics]], [[robotics]], [[medical physics]], [[3D ultraound]], [[Robarts Research Instit]]
+| fields = [[Software development]], [[medical imaging]], [[fractal cosmology]]
+| workplaces = [[Robarts Research Institute]], [[Western University]]
+| alma_mater = University of Western Ontario
+| known_for = [[Fractal cosmology]], the [[Mandelbrot set]] as a model of the universe, the [[Buddhabrot]], [[3D ultrasound]] imaging software
 }}
-After receiving my bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Western Ontario (now called Western) in 1985, I began working full time in the Astronomy Department at Western to continue work on a project I had started as a summer student. While there, I designed and built a device called a polarimeter controller which was used to investigate the magnetic fields of stars. I designed the circuit and hand wire wrapped it myself, developed all the control software using assembler language (I managed to fit all the code into 2K of EEPROM memory) on a Motorola HC11 single chip microprocessor (the HC811E2FN to be specific) . I consider my time in Astronomy as my apprenticeship since they taught me everything I know about how computers really work. My interest in Astronomy was a deciding factor in my decision to work for that department. When it became clear that this department was going to be downsizing and merging with Physics, I decided to change careers and switch to the field of medical imaging.&nbsp;
+'''Lori Anne Gardi''' (born October 20, 1961), also known online as ''FractalWoman'', is a Canadian software developer and independent researcher based in London, Ontario. She works as a senior software developer in medical imaging at the [[Robarts Research Institute]] and [[Western University]], and is known outside the mainstream for her independent work on [[fractal cosmology]], in which she argues that the structure of the universe can be understood through the [[Mandelbrot set]].
-In 1993 I joined the team at Robarts Research Institute which was one of the first groups to develop 3D ultrasound technologies and their applications. Since my main area of expertise was control software, I was put into the position of developing acquisition and calibration systems for 3D ultrasound guided biopsy and surgical procedures. Some inventions came out of this technological development and I am personally named on many of the patents. I am also co-author of 34+ papers in this field. I continue to work on these applications at Robarts Research Institute and Western to this day.
+== Biography ==
-My independent research into fractal cosmology began back in the mid 1980's when the Mandelbrot Set algorithm was made popular by an article in Scientific American's computer recreations section (by A. K. Dewdney). Back then all I had was a Commodore-64 but I was able to implement his algorithm in Basic and was able to explore it in great detail (and never looked back). As computers became more powerful, so did my ability to render this mathematical monster with greater speed and in greater detail. These days I am able to zoom to the Mandelbrot Set in near real time and have developed many applications around this most famous fractal pattern generator. This is how I came to realize that the Mandelbrot Set (M-Set) is more than just a pretty picture. My understanding of fractal cosmology comes directly from studying the underlying dynamics associated with the Mandelbrot set (M-Set). In other words, everything I know about fractal cosmology, I learned from M-Set. This revelation inspired me to do independent research into cosmology including and especially relativity and quantum mechanics in hopes that a grand theory could be discovered using this line of thinking. It is my belief that the study of fractals and fractal cosmology will (at the very least) lead to a better understanding of the inner and outer workings of the Universe at all scales.
+Gardi received a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Western Ontario (now Western University) in 1985. After graduating she worked full time in the Astronomy Department at Western, continuing a project she had begun as a summer student. There she designed and built a polarimeter controller used to investigate the magnetic fields of stars, developing the control software in assembly language on a Motorola HC11 single-chip microprocessor. She has described this period as her apprenticeship in how computers work.
+When the Astronomy Department began downsizing and merging with Physics, Gardi changed careers and moved into the field of medical imaging. In 1993 she joined the team at the [[Robarts Research Institute]], one of the first groups to develop [[3D ultrasound]] technologies and their applications. Her main area of expertise being control software, she developed acquisition and calibration systems for 3D ultrasound guided biopsy and surgical procedures. She is named on several patents arising from this work and is a co-author of more than thirty peer-reviewed papers in the field of medical imaging, continuing this work at Robarts and Western.
+== Work ==
+=== Medical imaging ===
+As a senior software developer at Robarts Research Institute and Western University, Gardi has worked on image-guided and robot-assisted medical imaging systems, contributing software for 3D ultrasound guided biopsy, prostate interventions, breast brachytherapy planning, and related surgical procedures. Her published medical-imaging research spans acquisition, calibration, and mechatronic systems for image-guided interventions.
+== Fractal cosmology ==
+Gardi's independent research into [[fractal cosmology]] began in the mid-1980s, after the [[Mandelbrot set]] algorithm was popularized by A. K. Dewdney's "Computer Recreations" column in ''Scientific American''. She first implemented the algorithm in BASIC on a Commodore 64 and has explored the set in increasing detail as computing power has grown, developing software able to render and zoom into the Mandelbrot set in near real time.
+From this study Gardi developed the view that the Mandelbrot set is more than a mathematical curiosity, proposing that the universe is itself fractal in nature at all knowable scales. Her approach models the universe as an [[iterated function system]] analogous to the Mandelbrot iteration ''z'' = ''z''² + ''c'', where ''z'' and ''c'' are complex numbers. She has described the Mandelbrot set as a "quasi-black hole," suggesting that black-hole-like structures recur self-similarly across many scales, including the atomic and quantum scales. Rather than seeking to unify the forces of physics, she argues for "unifying scales" by calibrating physical relationships at one scale and applying them across all scales. Gardi coined the term "Bubblebrot" for a variant of the [[Buddhabrot]] rendering, which she treats as central to this body of work.
+These ideas fall outside mainstream physics and cosmology. Gardi has presented her work at conferences of the Chappell Natural Philosophy Society (CNPS) and published articles through independent, non-mainstream outlets.
+== Mathematical art ==
+Gardi is also a digital and mathematical artist working under the name ''FractalWoman''. Her fractal renderings, including the works ''Bubblebrot-Buddhabrot'' and ''Singularity'' (both 2017), were exhibited in the Mathematical Art Galleries at the 2017 Bridges Conference on mathematics, art, and culture.
+== Selected works ==
+* "The Mandelbrot Set as a Quasi-Black Hole" (2017)
+* "The Mandelbrot set and the fractal nature of light, the Universe, and everything"
+== External links ==
+* [https://fractalwoman.com/ FractalWoman.com] — personal website
+* [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lori-Anne-Gardi ResearchGate profile]
 [[Category:Scientist|Gardi Lori]]