The Golden Ratio: art and math can be friends!
The Golden Ratio, (~1.618) also known as the Greek letter phi (φ), is an irrational number found in nature again and again (think pi). Being an irrational number means it’s a decimal with no end, and it can’t be written as a simple fraction. There are a lot of cool things about this number, but my favorite is its relationship to the Fibbonacci sequence.
The Fibbonacci sequence is a series of numbers starting with 0,1 wherein the next number is always the sum of the two previous numbers. So, 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, etc. The cool thing is that the ratio between any two adjacent Fibbonacci numbers is extremely close to the Golden Ratio, and as the numbers get bigger, the closer it gets.
A lot of things in nature, especially plants, tend to grow according to the Golden Ratio, and the reasons why are actually really interesting but I don’t want to write a dissertation at the moment, so google it if you’re interested. Or ask me. That works too. But anyway, things that grow according to the Golden Ratio will rotate by ~1.618 every time they create a new layer or a new cell, and it ends up with the spirals you see above. The best part, of course, is that if you break down the spiral, you get the Fibbonacci.
And, because the Golden Spiral is a naturally pleasing shape to the human eye, artists sometimes align their compositions to fit, too, which I think is awesome. Anyway, look, photography and math, fun!
