Things I Like - Sciences

Last week’s post on Fractals brought me to one of my favorite math thingeys – Fibonacci Numbers. Fibonacci numbers are generated by setting F0=0, F1=1, and then using the recursive formula Fn = Fn-1 + Fn-2

Or for non-math geeks – start with 0 and 1 as the first two Fibonacci numbers. Each subsequent number is the sum of the previous two. The sequence starts out:

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144 and goes forever.

So it’s a fun little formula but what makes it so special?
Have you ever looked at a sunflower? What about a pineapple or a pinecone? These and many other items found in nature have a tie to the Fibonacci numbers. The number of spirals going in each direction is a Fibonacci Number.

On sunflowers, the number of clockwise and counterclockwise spirals will always be consecutive Fibonacci Numbers like 21 and 34 or 55 and 34.

This video does a nice job of covering the Fibonacci numbers - be sure to have your volume on.



The last 20 seconds of the video makes the ‘fingerprint of God’ statement which is interesting to think about but not my point here. The information in the first 3 minutes is pretty useful. You can also read more here. The formula at the top is from Su, Francis E., et al. "Fibonacci Number Formula." Mudd Math Fun Facts.