The Golden Ratio by Mario Livio

The Golden Ratio by Mario Livio

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Summary

What do the Parthenon in Greece, crosses in graveyards, the ratio of the height of the navel to a woman's total height, and the Mona Lisa have in common? The answer is that they share a geometrical proportion of ancient origin, commonly known as the "Golden Ratio", or expressed numerically as phi.

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The Golden Ratio by Mario Livio

What do the Parthenon in Greece, crosses in graveyards, the ratio of the height of the navel to a woman's total height, sunflowers and Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa have in common? The answer is that these disparate elements share a geometrical proportion of ancient origin, commonly known as the "Golden Ratio", or expressed numerically as phi. In a journey through art and architecture, botany and biology, taking in fractals and DNA on the way, Livio takes us into the heart of this extraordinary number, and gives an account of the phi-obsessed individuals who devoted their lives to discovering their secrets - from the Pythagoreans who believed that the study of the "Golden Ratio" would reveal the hand of God, to the great astronomer Johannes Kepler who felt that phi was the greatest treasure of geometry, to the modern day scientists who are discovering ever more remarkable ramifications of this strange, almost mystical number.
THE ACCELERATING UNIVERSE' is not only an informative book about modern cosmologyIt is rich storytelling and, above all, a celebration of the human mind in its quest for beauty in all things. - Alan Lightman (author of EINSTEIN'S DREAMS)
Mario Livio is head scientist at the Hubble Space Telescope Institute at John Hopkins University, USA.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9780747249870
ISBN 10 0747249873
Title The Golden Ratio
Author Mario Livio
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Hardback
Publisher Headline Publishing Group
Year published 2002-10-28
Number of pages 288
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.