T171 st92 Blue group
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T171 st92 Blue group
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This
subject was inspired by a poster campaign to promote mathematics which I saw
on a tube train on the London Underground system. The campaign poster for January
2000 provided by the Isaac Newton Institute referred to something which I had
never heard about before, namely Fibonacci numbers.
I was fascinated by the simple idea that starting with 0+1= 1 and 1+1= 2 then adding the last digit to the sum produced, a special series of numbers emerges i.e. 1+1 = 2, 1+2 = 3, 2+3 = 5, 3+5 = 8, 5+8 = 13 and so on. This series named after Leonardo da Pisa, otherwise known as Leonardo Fibonacci who is credited with defining it, gives rise to what is known as the golden number or golden ratio.
Adjacent numbers in the series (after the first few) converge to a constant ratio of 1:1.618 (or inversely 0.618:1) known as the golden ratio or golden mean. So for instance a rectangle whose sides are in proportion to the golden ratio is known as the golden rectangle. This ratio has also been referred to as the golden (or Divine) proportion or section.
This ratio, and the series itself, seems to pop up in the unlikeliest of places. The more I delved on the WWW into what I thought was a mathematical or scientific phenomenon, the more I was intrigued to find that the numbers and their ratio transcend boundaries of science into other disciplines of art, music, literature and architecture. What begins as pure maths almost becomes philosophy.... For instance is the Mona Lisa considered so beautiful because her facial dimensions coincide with the golden proportion and people are predisposed to find such a shape attractive? Did Leonardo da Vinci deliberately draw it so because he knew the significance of Fibonacci numbers? Why do so many patterns in nature conform to the Fibonacci series? E.g. the number of petals on a sunflower, or the shape of a beehive. Did the Greeks know of the significance of the ratio before Fibonacci's time as the columns of the Parthenon and other buildings seem to conform to the ratio, or is this just coincidence?
If you too are intrigued then read on. The sites I have chosen below are produced by a variety of academics and interested individuals, several of them appealed to me because they promote mathematics and its application, others are just fascinating.
The remaining content may be viewed in one of two ways. Either way, the content is identical. The linked pages are provided as an alternative in case the single page containing images may be slow to download over your link.
Acknowledgement: The source addresses for the images in this document may be viewed by placing the cursor over the required image. All images were downloaded 23/4/00.
