Member-only story
Two Beautiful Ways to Calculate the Golden Ratio, 1.618…
“Geometry has two great treasures; one is the Theorem of Pythagoras; the other is the division of a line into extreme and mean ratios. The first we may compare to a measure of gold; the second we may name a precious jewel.”’ Johannes Kepler
Fibonacci, also known as Leonardo of Pisa, was a mathematician who lived from 1175 to 1250. In Italian, the name Fibonacci means ‘son of Bonacci.’ During a period in Europe when mathematical advancement almost came to a halt, Fibonacci went with his father on business trips where he visited many Arab and eastern countries.
Fibonacci’s father helped Fibonacci continue his education in the countries he went to and made him take math classes from Muslim scholars. Fibonacci liked the number system used by Muslim scholars for its beauty and easiness. He then decided to spread the information he had acquired all over Europe. The number system Fibonacci spread is the number system we are using now.
When Fibonacci returned to Italy, he quickly passed his knowledge down to a book called Liber Abaci by 1202. In the book, Fibonacci generally introduced the number system used by Muslim scholars. He then performed…
