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The Golden Ratio tells the story and myths about the number phi, or 1.6180339887...
This very curious mathematical relationship, known universally as the “golden ratio” or “divine proportion”, was defined by Euclid more than two thousand years ago, due to its importance in the construction of the pentagram, a symbol to which magical properties are attributed.
Since then, the golden ratio has shown itself prone to appearing in a variety of media: spirals in mollusk shells, sunflower petals, crystals, or the shapes of galaxies with billions of stars. Psychologists are investigating whether the golden ratio is the most aesthetically pleasing proportion in existence. The fact is that the creators of the Great Pyramids, the Parthenon, and masters of art and science have used it for centuries. Works by Leonardo da Vinci, such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, attest to the presence of this ratio, even explored in the plots of Dan Brown's bestseller The Da Vinci Code . It has even been suggested that the golden ratio could be related to financial market fluctuations.
Through this broad theme, the author takes us on a journey through art and architecture, botany and biology, physics and mathematics. *The Golden Ratio* reveals interesting facts about a series of figures fixated on the number phi. It begins with the Pythagoreans, who defended the thesis that this ratio would reveal God's secrets. It continues with the astronomer Johannes Kepler, who considered this number one of the greatest treasures of geometry, and medieval thinkers such as mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci of Pisa, author of the famous Fibonacci sequence. Livio also explores the enchantment of modern art masters such as Debussy, Le Corbusier, Béla Bartók, and contemporary mathematicians.
With Mario Livio, a passionate guide to the history of ideas, even those who detest numbers can experience the pleasures of scientific discovery. His work is living proof, as Galileo demonstrated, that the universe is truly "written" in the language of mathematics.
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