Sunday, March 15, 2009

Mathematics in Nature; The Fibonacci spiral;



The Fibonacci Spiral is a mathematical formula in which each interconnected area is the sum of the two preceding areas.
The golden ratio; the sum of two unequal quantities plus the larger of the two is the same as the
ratio between the larger and the smaller.

The Fibonacci numbers are a sequence of numbers named after Leonardo of Pisa, known as Fibonacci (a contraction of filius Bonaccio, "son of Bonaccio"). Fibonacci's 1202 book Liber Abaci introduced the sequence to Western European mathematics, although the sequence had been previously described in Indian mathematics.

The Fibonacci sequence was well known in ancient India, where it was applied to the metrical sciences (prosody), long before it was known in Europe. Developments have been attributed to Pingala (200 BC), Virahanka (6th century AD), Gopāla (c.1135 AD), and Hemachandra (c.1150 AD).[6]








2 comments:

  1. Amazing stuff. I remember learning about this at a Mathematics seminar when I was teaching.

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  2. Thank you for your comment, Diane. It is fascinating it all comes back to mathematics.

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