Fibonacci Sequence

History

The Fibonacci sequence was invented by the Italian Leonardo Pisano Bigollo (1180-1250), who is known
in mathematical history by several names: Leonardo of Pisa (Pisano means "from Pisa") and Fibonacci
(which means "son of Bonacci").

Fibonacci, the son of an Italian businessman from the city of Pisa, grew up in a trading colony in North
Africa during the Middle Ages. Italians were some of the western world's most proficient traders and
merchants during the Middle Ages, and they needed arithmetic to keep track of their commercial
transactions. Mathematical calculations were made using the Roman numeral system (I, II, III, IV, V, VI,
etc.), but that system made it hard to do the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division that
merchants needed to keep track of their transactions.

While growing up in North Africa, Fibonacci learned the more efficient Hindu-Arabic system of
arithmetical notation (1, 2, 3, 4...) from an Arab teacher. In 1202, he published his knowledge in a famous
book called the Liber Abaci (which means the "book of the abacus," even though it had nothing to do
with the abacus). The Liber Abaci showed how superior the Hindu-Arabic arithmetic system was to the
Roman numeral system, and it showed how the Hindu-Arabic system of arithmetic could be applied to
benefit Italian merchants.

The Fibonacci sequence was the outcome of a mathematical problem about rabbit breeding that was
posed in the Liber Abaci. The problem was this: Beginning with a single pair of rabbits (one male and one
female), how many pairs of rabbits will be born in a year, assuming that every month each male and
female rabbit gives birth to a new pair of rabbits, and the new pair of rabbits itself starts giving birth to
additional pairs of rabbits after the first month of their birth?

Table 1 illustrates one way of looking at Fibonacci's solution to this problem.

TABLE 1

Newborns One-month. Mature. Total

(can't. -olds (can't Pairs (can Pairs

reproduce) reproduce) reproduce)

Month 1 1 + 0 + 0 = 1

Month 2 0 + 1 + 0 = 1

Month 3 1 + 0 + 1 = 2

Month 4 1 + 1 + 1 = 3

Month 5 2 + 1 + 2 = 5
Month 6 3 + 2 + 3 = 8

Month 7 5 + 3 + 5 = 13

Month 8 8 + 5 + 8 = 21

Month 9 13 + 8 + 13 = 34

Month 10 21 + 13 + 21 = 55

Each number in the table represents a pair of rabbits. Each pair of rabbits can only give birth after its first
month of life. Beginning in the third month, the number in the "Mature pairs" column represents the
number of pairs that can bear rabbits. The numbers in the "Total Pairs" column represent the Fibonacci
sequence.

FIBONACCI SEQUENCE IN NATURE

1. Shells

Shells follow the progressive proportional increase of the Fibonacci Sequence. Shells are probably the
most famous example of the sequence because the lines are very clean and clear to see. They are also
fun to collect and display. And then, there you have it! You're own little piece of math.

2. Flower Pistils

The part of the flower in the middle of the petals (the pistil) follows the Fibonacci Sequence much more
intensely than other pieces of nature, but the result is an incredible piece of art. The pattern formed by
the curve the sequence creates used repeatedly produces a lovely and intricate design.

3. Flower Petals

Flowers of all kinds follow the pattern, but roses are one of the best examples to use as an example of
the Fibonacci Sequence. The petals aren't spread out and the spiral is more obvious and clear, like with
the shell. The petals unfold more and more and the sequence increases. Roses are beautiful (and so is
math).

4. Leaves

Leaves follow Fibonacci both when growing off branches and stems and in their veins. I, personally, find
the veins much more interesting and amazing to look at. Similar to a tree, leaf veins branch off more and
more in the outward proportional increments of the Fibonacci Sequence.

5. Storms
Specifically hurricanes and tornadoes, many storm systems follow the Fibonacci Sequence. It os suppose
not beautiful, but more interesting. On a map, at least, hurricanes look cool. We could say this example
proves math can be beautiful and destructive.

6. You!

Yes! You are an example of the beauty of the Fibonacci Sequence. The human body has various
representations of the Fibonacci Sequence proportions, from your face to your ear to your hands and
beyond! You have now been proven to be mathematically gorgeous, so go forth and be beautiful! ...and
maybe think math is a little bit better than you first thought?

FIBONACCI SEQUENCE IN ART

Leonardo da Vinci

The Golden Section was used extensively by Leonardo Da Vinci. Note how all the key dimensions of the
room, the table and ornamental shields in Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” were based on the Golden Ratio,
which was known in the Renaissance period as The Divine Proportion.

Note in Da Vinci’s “The Annuciation” that the brick wall of the courtyard is in golden ratio proportion to
the top and bottom of the painting.

Even the fine details of the emblems on the table appear to have been positioned based on golden
proportions of the width of the table.

Michelangelo

In Michelangelo’s painting of “The Creation of Adam” on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, look at the
section of the painting bounded by God and Adam. The finger of God touches the finger of Adam
precisely at the golden ratio point of the width and height of the area that contains them both.
Alternatively, you can use the horizontal borders of the width of the painting and get the same result.

Raphael

Raphael’s “The School of Athens” provides another wonderful example of the application of the golden
ratio in composition. A small golden rectangle at the front and center of the painting signals the artist’s
express intent in the use of this proportion.

Botticelli

Some say that Bottocelli composed “The Birth of Venus” such that her navel is at the golden ratio of her
height, as well as the height of the painting itself. Some argue this isn’t the case. Close examination
shows that you can take the golden ratio point using several different logical variations, and they all
come to her navel, as well as the bottom tip of her right elbow.

Red line – From the very top of her hair to the bottom of her lower foot.
Green line – From her hairline at the top of her forehead to the bottom of her upper foot.

Blue line – Her height, as measured from the middle of the feet to the top of her head at the back of the
part in her hair.

Seurat

The French impressionist painter Georges Pierre Seurat is said to have “attacked every canvas by the
golden section.” In the examples, below the horizons falls exactly at the golden section of the height of
the paintings, as are other key compositional elements of the paintings.

What is the Golden Ratio?

One such place is particularly fascinating: the golden ratio. So, what is this golden ratio? Well, it’s a
number that’s equal to approximately 1.618. This number is now often known as “phi” and is expressed
in writing using the symbol for the letter phi from the Greek alphabet. Phi isn’t equal to precisely 1.618
since, like its famous cousin pi, phi is an irrational number—which means that its decimal digits carry on
forever without repeating a pattern.

The Golden Rectangle

What’s the most beautiful rectangle? More specifically: What’s the ratio of this “most beautiful”
rectangle’s height to its width? This question seems strange, but it isn’t crazy. We won’t go into the
details right now, but there is evidence that people tend to perceive one particular shape of rectangle as
being most pleasing to the eye. Of course, the Greeks knew this long before modern psychologists tested
it, which is why they used golden rectangles, as well as other golden shapes and proportions adhering to
the golden ratio, in their architecture and art.

For example, almost 2500 years ago, a Greek sculptor and architect named Phidias is thought to have
used the golden ratio to design the statues he sculpted for the Parthenon (note the word “phi” in
Phidias’ name—that isn’t a coincidence and actually inspired the naming of the number in the 20th
century). And since Phidias’ time, numerous painters and musicians have incorporated the golden ratio
into their work too—Leonardo da Vinci, Salvador Dalí, and Claude Debussy, among many others.

But back to the problem of figuring out the shape of the most pleasing rectangle. If you simply draw
what you believe to be the most beautiful rectangle, then measure the lengths of each side, and finally
divide the longest length by the shortest, you’ll probably find that the ratio is somewhere around 1.6—
which is the golden ratio, phi, rounded to the nearest tenth. It won’t be exactly 1.6, but it should be
pretty close. Besides being “beautiful,” the resulting shape has an intriguing characteristic: If you draw a
golden rectangle, and then draw a line inside it to divide that rectangle into a square and another
smaller rectangle, that smaller rectangle will amazingly be another golden rectangle! You can do this
again with this new golden rectangle, and you’ll once again get a square and yet another golden
rectangle.
Connection Between the Golden Ratio and the Fibonacci Sequence

Okay, but what about the Fibonacci sequence? How does that figure into this? I know it might seem
totally unrelated, but check this out. Let’s create a new sequence of numbers by dividing each number in
the Fibonacci sequence by the previous number in the sequence. Remember, the sequence is

1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, ...

So, dividing each number by the previous number gives: 1 / 1 = 1, 2 / 1 = 2, 3 / 2 = 1.5, and so on up to
144 / 89 = 1.6179…. The resulting sequence is:

1, 2, 1.5, 1.666..., 1.6, 1.625, 1.615…, 1.619…, 1.6176…, 1.6181…, 1.6179…

But do you notice anything about those numbers? Perhaps the fact that they keep oscillating around and
getting tantalizingly closer and closer to 1.618?—the value of phi: the golden ratio! Indeed, completely
unbeknownst to Fibonacci, his solution to the rabbit population growth problem has a deep underlying
connection to the golden ratio that artists and architects have used for thousands of years!