Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Fibonacci rules...


Echinacea purpurea, purple coneflower

A coneflower whorl is a lovely example of the Fibonacci series. That's the sequence of numbers created by adding together the previous two numbers starting with 0 and 1. So that gives you -- 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, and so on. Dividing two successive numbers (especially as the numbers get larger) gives the golden ratio or golden mean, which has long been a favorite device in art because of its aesthetically pleasing proportions.

But that orange against the purple ain't half bad either!!
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7 comments:

  1. April JarockaJuly 22, 2009 at 2:44 AM

    Very interesting Chris. Thanks for that post. Wonderful photo.

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  2. TinaJuly 22, 2009 at 9:00 AM

    I was never aware of that about the coneflower - how fascinating!

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  3. Chris BeckJuly 22, 2009 at 9:07 AM

    Glad you both found it interesting. Thanks for commenting.

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  4. AnonymousJuly 23, 2009 at 7:28 AM

    One of my favorite flowers, and finches love the seeds.
    PS:
    I always get the golden mean confused with the golden arch.

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  5. Chris BeckJuly 23, 2009 at 9:20 AM

    I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with these flowers -- they're new to my garden this year, although I'm familiar with them from the remnant prairies in southern Wisconsin.

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  6. Pablo Villicaña LaraAugust 9, 2009 at 9:05 PM

    Phew! too much thinking for me! Love the info and the picture.

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  7. Chris BeckAugust 9, 2009 at 9:40 PM

    I'm not really a math person either, Pablo. Intuition is the way to go when it comes to my art!!

    ReplyDelete

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