Fibonacci Sequence and

the Golden Ratio

Robert Farquhar
MA 341
Who Was Fibonacci?
European
mathematician
1175-1250
Real name
Leonardo of Pisa.
Author of Liber
abaci or Book of
the Abacus.
Remembered
today because of
Edouard Lucas
What Is the Fibonacci Sequence
and Why Is It Significant?
Generalized sequence of first two
positive integers and the next number is
the sum of the previous two, i.e.
1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,…
Has intrigued mathematicians for
centuries. Shows up unexpectedly in
architecture, science and nature
(sunflowers & pineapples).
Sunflower Seedhead and
the Fibonacci Sequence
Fibonacci Sequence Cont’d
Has useful applications with computer
programming, sorting of data,
generation of random numbers, etc.
Fibonacci Sequence and the
Golden Ratio

A remarkable property of the

sequence is that the ratio between
two numbers in the sequence
eventually approaches the “Golden
Ratio” as a limit.
1/1=1 2/1=2 3/2=1.5 5/3=1.6667
8/5=1.6 13/8=1.625 21/13=1.6154
Fibonacci Sequence and the
Golden Ratio
Golden Ratio
Famous Irrational
number phi—
1.61803398…
Only positive # that
becomes its own
reciprocal by
subtracting 1
Used extensively by
Ancient Greeks in
architecture
Golden Ratio Continued
Ratio also shows up
in many famous
paintings
Da Vinci studied
extensively the ratio
and body
proportions.
Summary
Fibonacci Sequence has been around
for hundreds of years.
Golden Ratio has been used for
thousands of years.
Both concepts are still in use today and
continue to interest us.
References
Gardner, Martin (1979). Fibonacci and Lucas
Numbers. In Mathematical Circus (pp. 152-
160), New York:Alfred Knopf
Gardner, Martin (1961). Phi: The Golden
Ratio. In Mathematical Puzzles & Diversions
(pp.89-100), New York: Simon and Schuster.
Web Page “The Golden Ratio” by Steve
Blacker, Jeanette Ploanski and Marc Schwach,

http://www.geom.umn.edu/~demo5337/s97b
/fibonacci.html