One of the world’s most incredibly famed mathematician, who puzzled fellow mathematicians till this moment, is Leonardo Pisano Fibonacci, an Italian. Popularly known as Fibonacci, he was born in the 1170’s and died in the 1240’s.
Fibonacci is famous for discovering a sequence set of numbers popularly known as the Fibonacci numbers. Fibonacci’s sequence is so amazingly interesting because it is found in about everything that occurs naturally. He discovered this sequence of numbers while studying breeding rabbits. He generated the following number sequence: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 243, 378… and the series continues infinitely. In the Fibonacci set of numbers, every number is a sum of the first two preceding values in the series.
Surprising enough, cows follow the same breeding pattern, and so do bees. This set of numbers are also found occurring naturally in plants; examples of such occurrences are :
| Number of petals |
Type of flowers |
| 2 |
Enchanter’s Nightshade |
| 3 |
Iris, Lilies, Trillium |
| 5 |
All edible fruits, Delphiniums, Larkspurs |
| 8 |
Other Delphiniums, Lesser Celandine, some Daisies, Field Senecio |
| 13 |
Globe Glower, Ragwort, “Souble” Selphiniums, Mayweed, Corn Marigold, Chamomile |
| 21 |
Heleniums, Asters, Chicory, Doronicum, some Hawkbits, many wildflowers |
| 34 |
Common Daisies, Plantains, Gaillardias, |
| 55 |
Michaelmas Daisies |
Derived from the Fibonacci Numbers is a certain ratio called the Phi number or Golden ratio or the Golden number, given as 1.618 . This Golden number is the basis upon which spirals of snail shells, pinecones, tree branches, leaf growth patterns and a whole lot of naturally occurring phenomenon take place.
Still don’t think Fibonacci numbers are amazing? The Golden number itself can be found in the very bones that form our body’s skeleton. For example, the three bones of any finger, the phalanges, are related to one another by the Golden 1.618 ratio. Their growth-rate is maintained in that order so that you don’t have the bone at the tip of your finger bigger than the bone following it and so on; or that you don’t have your left arm longer than your right arm; or that you don’t have one ear bigger than the other. Some things you just can’t explain!
Science seek fervently to grasp the concept of nature but always seem to finds itself in a realm it is unfamiliar with. Nature has always had it but science only just realises and tries to explain a perfection beyond its absolute comprehension.
Well, kudos to Leonardo Pisano Fibonacci; his discovery has led to advancements in a vast range of fields including stock markets, computing, weather pattern recognition etc. The Golden number were also used in the paintings and sculptures of World renowned artists including Leonardo De Vinci, Raphael Santi, Michael Angelo etc.
Science keeps expanding and accumulating knowledge but even science wouldn’t claim to have absolute understanding of the entirety of occurrence in nature. Nature’s realm of knowledge is too vast to encompass but only in bits and pieces can science peek at it. Stay afloat and appreciate nature wherever you come across it.
About the Writer: Bello Muhammad is a graduate of Biological Sciences. He is passionate about education and personal development. He is also a lover of chess who has featured in the West African University Games for his institution. You can contact him via Google+ and email: slimophobia@gmail.com, phone 08152501891 and Twitter @Slimanic.
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This article was first published on 21st July 2015
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