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Published online 7 July 2006 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news060703-17
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Van Gogh painted perfect turbulence
The disturbed artist intuited the deep forms of fluid flow.
Vincent van Gogh is known for his chaotic paintings and similarly tumultuous state of mind. Now a mathematical analysis of his works reveals that the stormy patterns in many of his paintings are uncannily like real turbulence, as seen in swirling water or the air from a jet engine.
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