This poem is inspired by the Fibonacci sequence, a mathematical formula named after Leonardo of Pisa (known as Fibonacci) – despite not actually discovering it himself – whom some considered “the most talented mathematician of the middle ages”. Also known as the divine proportion, golden mean, golden number, golden proportion and golden ratio (1.618), the Fibonacci sequence is found in the arrangement of branches along the stems of plants; the skeletons of animals and the branching of their veins & nerves; to the proportions of chemical compounds and the geometry of crystals.
“A universal law in which is contained the ground-principle of all formative striving for beauty and completeness in the realms of both nature and art; which permeates, as a paramount spiritual ideal, all structures, forms and proportions, whether cosmic or individual, organic or inorganic, acoustic or optical; which finds its fullest realisation … in the human form.” Adolf Zeising, 1854
The poem is structured to represent the divine proportion: the words describe a subtly disguised cosmic blueprint shaping nature, and the colours of the rainbow illustrate each change in the sequence and symbolise a desire to colour our understanding of being.
1 = 1 13 = 5 + 8
2 = 1 + 1 21 = 8 + 13
3 = 1 + 2 34 = 13 + 21
5 = 2 + 3 55 = 21 + 34
8 = 3 + 5 89 = 34 + 55
This poem is inspired by the Fibonacci sequence, a mathematical formula named after Leonardo of Pisa (known as Fibonacci) – despite not actually discovering it himself – whom some considered “the most talented mathematician of the middle ages”. Also known as the divine proportion, golden mean, golden number, golden proportion and golden ratio (1.618), the Fibonacci sequence is found in the arrangement of branches along the stems of plants; the skeletons of animals and the branching of their veins & nerves; to the proportions of chemical compounds and the geometry of crystals.
“A universal law in which is contained the ground-principle of all formative striving for beauty and completeness in the realms of both nature and art; which permeates, as a paramount spiritual ideal, all structures, forms and proportions, whether cosmic or individual, organic or inorganic, acoustic or optical; which finds its fullest realisation … in the human form.” Adolf Zeising, 1854
The poem is structured to represent the divine proportion: the words describe a subtly disguised cosmic blueprint shaping nature, and the colours of the rainbow illustrate each change in the sequence and symbolise a desire to colour our understanding of being.
1 = 1 13 = 5 + 8 2 = 1 + 1 21 = 8 + 13 3 = 1 + 2 34 = 13 + 21 5 = 2 + 3 55 = 21 + 34 8 = 3 + 5 89 = 34 + 55
This poem is inspired by the Fibonacci sequence, a mathematical formula named after Leonardo of Pisa (known as Fibonacci) – despite not actually discovering it himself – whom some considered “the most talented mathematician of the middle ages”. Also known as the divine proportion, golden mean, golden number, golden proportion and golden ratio (1.618), the Fibonacci sequence is found in the arrangement of branches along the stems of plants; the skeletons of animals and the branching of their veins & nerves; to the proportions of chemical compounds and the geometry of crystals.
“A universal law in which is contained the ground-principle of all formative striving for beauty and completeness in the realms of both nature and art; which permeates, as a paramount spiritual ideal, all structures, forms and proportions, whether cosmic or individual, organic or inorganic, acoustic or optical; which finds its fullest realisation … in the human form.” Adolf Zeising, 1854
The poem is structured to represent the divine proportion: the words describe a subtly disguised cosmic blueprint shaping nature, and the colours of the rainbow illustrate each change in the sequence and symbolise a desire to colour our understanding of being.
1 = 1 13 = 5 + 8
2 = 1 + 1 21 = 8 + 13
3 = 1 + 2 34 = 13 + 21
5 = 2 + 3 55 = 21 + 34
8 = 3 + 5 89 = 34 + 55