The Golden Proportion, Beauty and Dental Aesthetics Account 0

The Fibonacci Series

The line below shows a part of the Fibonacci series, from 21 to 89, to scale, Search...
with 2 Gauges superimposed on adjacent sections of the series to
demonstrate that the parts are in the Golden Proportion.
Golden Mean Gauge seen on the right.
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History

Mathematic
s

The
Fibonacci
Series
No consideration of the Golden Proportion can be complete without
mention of the Fibonacci Series which is the complementary view of the
Golden Proportion as illustrated above by the 3 Golden Mean Gauges.
These numbers are also abundant in the beauty of nature and teeth.

De nition

In this series of numbers each term is the sum of the previous two terms as
follows:

0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 etc.

The division of any two adjacent numbers gives the amazing Golden
number e.g.
34 / 55 = 0.618 or inversely 55 /34 = 1.618.

It is called the Fibonacci series after Leonardo of Pisa or (Filius Bonacci),

alias Leonardo Fibonacci, born in 1175, whose great book The Liber Abaci
(1202) , on arithmetic, was a standard work for 200 years and is still
considered the best book written on arithmetic. It was the principal means
of demonstrating and introducing the enormous advantages of the Hindu
Arabic system of numeration over the Roman System.

Leonardos reputation amongst scholars was deservedly great. It was so

outstanding that King Frederick II, visiting Pisa in 1225, held a public
competition in mathematics to test Leonardos skill and he was the only
one able to answer the questions (Huntley 158).

One of the most spectacular examples of the Fibonacci Series in nature is

in the head of the sun ower.
Scientists have measured the number
of spirals in the sun ower head. They
found, not only one set of short spirals
going clockwise from the centre, but
also another set of longer spirals going
anti clockwise, These two beautiful
sinuous spirals of the sun ower head
reveal the astonishing double
connection with the Fibonacci series.

a. The pairs are always adjacent numbers in the Fibonacci series

e.g. one pair could be 21 and 34 and the next pair could be 34 and 55

b. The adjacent numbers divided yield the Golden Proportion

34 / 55 = 0.618 or 55 / 34 = 1.618

The New Scientist Dec. 81 featured on its cover a daisy head showing the
double spiral. The article then went on to discuss the Fibonnaci series,
showing other examples of the double spirals in nature and comparing
them to computer generated double spirals. The writers also postulated an
explanation for the way plants growth illustrates the Fibonacci series in
the position and spacing of the leaves (Phylotaxis.)

Muslim Art

The Muslims allow no illustrations of any of Gods creations and so they

were obliged to resort to mathematics to nd ways of decorating their
places of worship The Fibonacci series features extensively in Islamic
decorations. A simpli ed indication of how a theme could be developed is
shown here. The gure above shows 3 diagrams which are the recognisable
numbers of the Fibonacci Series in the top line, left side.

The rst double digit number is 8 + 5 = 13 but the 13 has been reduced to 3
+ 1 = 4 similarly the next double digit 8 + 9 = 17 has been reduced to 8 etc
etc . The process called Kabalistic reduction is a frequently used method of
manipulating numbers. The next line shows the alternate numbers
selected- Excluding 9. From this line a pattern was generated as seen in the
3 gures, related to the number sequence. From this was built the nal
decorative pattern.

The adjacent picture shows a design

featuring the pentagons and hexagons
used in the Mosque. which were
developed out of the connections
between the Fibonacci series,and the
Golden Proportion. The in uence and
interconnections between Muslim art
the Golden Proportion, the polygons,
the Vedic Hindu Square and the Cabbala
number system, are beautifully
illustrated in the Language of Pattern by Alburn, Smith, Steel and Walker
published by Thames and Hudson.

Mathematics
The Fibonacci Cascade

The series of numbers below

shows a Geometrical progression
on the left hand side, where each
number, starting from 1, is
multiplied by 1.618. On the right
hand side the rst number is
divided by 0.618 giving the
identical result for each line. It is
most extraordinary to see yet a
3rd simple progression running
through the geometric series and
that is an arithmetic series arrived at by adding the products of
multiplication together as follows:-

Add 1.618 to 2.618 = 4.236 which added to 2.618 = 6.854 etc etc. And this
number is the addition of the previous two terms which is non other than
the famous Fibonacci Series.

We have thus one progression of numbers, arrived at by three different

methods- two geometric and one arithmetic. The two geometric
progressions are arrived at by multiplying each term by 1.618 or dividing by
0.168.

Multiplication by 1.618 Division by 0.618

 1 x 1.618 = 1.618 1 / 0.618 = 1.618

1.618 x 1.618 = 2.618 1.618 / 0.618 = 2.618

2.618 x 1.618 = 4.236 2.618 / 0.618 = 4.236

4.236 x 1.618 = 6.854 4.236 / 0.618 = 6.854

6.854 x 1.618 = 11.09 6.854 / 0.618 = 11.09

The Mathematical Key

There are different ways to express the simple mathematics of the

Fibonacci series.

A mathematician would easily understand that all this stems from the
following formula:-

= 1.618

0.618

The Universe

- = The Universe + 0.618

0.618

= 1.618 or Universe + 0 .618

0.618

Where unity implies the ultimate unity

The unity of the Universe divided by something is equal to the unity of

the universe plus something.
 The smaller is to the larger as the larger is to the whole
The Quadratic expression originates here.

Fibonacci Association

Phylotaxis
Phylotaxis is the study of the ordered position of leaves
on a stem.( Phyllos-leaf taxis order). ( lo pastry thin
leaves of pastry) with particular reference to their
repetition in the same alignment
The Fibonacci series have been observed in phylotaxis
and extensively studied in three different spiral
arrangements .
Golden Mean
1. VERTICALLY. Where leaves on a stem demonstrate the
Gauge Fibonacci Series as they spiral up the stem .
2. HORIZONTALLY. Where the spirals are horizontal like
on the at head of the sun ower.
3. TAPERED OR ROUNDED, like the tapered pine cones or the rounded
Chrysanthemums or pineapples which also show a double set of spirals as
in the adjacent pictures.

When these double sets of spirals have been

counted, the numbers of spirals were found to
be the adjacent Fibonacci numbers. Different
numbers with different plants. Any textbook
discussing mathematics in nature will include
numerous examples.

Brian Goodwin in his book, How the Leopard changed its spots, discusses
Phyllotaxis at length and describes a model of phylotaxis produced by two
French scientists Douady and Couder. They also managed to reproduce the
double spirals of the similar to those of the sun ower by computer.
 Brian Goodwin further asks about Phylotaxis. What is the inherent nature
of the simple rules that govern this diversity. What are we looking at when
we see such a magni cent variety of plants and owers?

The study of Phylotaxis is a branch of biology that seeks the answers to

these questions. The connection between phylotaxis and the Golden
Proportion has engendered volumes of literature examining these
questions. Surprisingly, as recent as 1998, a large magni cent tome on
phylotaxis called Symmetry in Plants was published as a
multidisciplinary study by 44 scientists, all leaders in their elds, including
chapters by botanists, mathematicians crystallographers and molecular
geneticists.

Phylotaxis-The positions of leaves.

The leaves on a stem are positioned

over the gaps between the lower
leaves as they spiral up the stem.
What is most remarkable about this
spiral spacing, is that irrespective
of species, the rotation angle tends
to have only a few values. By far the
most common of which is 137.5 o
(Goodwin). This is considered an
ef cient arrangement to allow
maximum sunlight to reach each
set of leaves. This angle is non other than the Golden Proportion related to
the perimeter of a circle as in the adjacent gure.

It is the ratio between the perimeter of a circle where the larger part A, is

to the smaller part B, as the larger part A is to the whole A+B. Our old
familiar Golden Proportion premise here seen in yet another guise.

Golden Mean The other example of the Golden Proportion is concerned with the number
Gauge of leaves between one leaf and the next one directly overhead and the
number of rotations before this position is reached.

Some trees like Elmwood and basswood, the leaves along a stem seem to
occur alternately on two opposite sides and we speak of 1/2 phyllotaxis. In
the beech and hazel the passage from one leaf to the next is I/3 of a turn.

oak and apricot 2/5 phylotaxis

poplar and pear 3/8
willow and almond 5/13
these are all recognisable as alternate Fibonacci numbers. {Coxeter}

We have already seen that the number of double spirals of the sun ower
head are also Fibonacci numbers. The spirals have perhaps moved from the
vertical plane to the horizontal plane.

Sun ower
The Fibonacci numbers also appear when we examine the number of petals
of certain common owers e.g.
 Iris 3 petals Daisy 34 petals

Primrose 5 petals michaelmas daisy 55 petals

Ragwort 13 petals michaelmas daisy 89 petals

A brief search at the literature will soon reveal on abundance of further

interesting studies on the Fibonacci Series.

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Copyright 2015 Dr. Eddy Levin.