The Universe and the Living World | Concepts and Symbols behind the fiction

Concepts | Fibonacci Patterns

concepts and symbols for science fiction0 1 1 2 3 5 8 23 31 54 etc, the Fibonacci sequence (where the total of the two preceding numbers equals the next number) can be found in many aspects of life. Based on Phi it expresses a fundamental relationship between numbers and shapes, and seems to measure the motivating force behind the growth of such systems, from the slow turn of galaxies in the universe, the expansion of our universe from the point of Big Bang, to more observable everyday phenomenon such as the pattern of seeds in a sunflower.

Phi is also known as the Golden Section or the Golden Ratio and is commonly found in traditional art and architecture as a means of presenting a pleasing sense of harmony and balance. Although it is expressed mathematically with the value 1.618 its presence is detected in human behaviour (stock markets for instance) and the twisting stems of plants as they grow. Its ratios can be found in the microchips that run our computers, the patterns of migrating birds and the sound frequencies that construct western notions of music.

Da Vinci, Vitruvian man, FibonacciThe combination of interlocking patterns of Fibonacci sequences create the complex structures of the living world, from beehives to pine cones, daisies to star fish, and the proportions of the human body. Leonardo da Vinci‘s famous Vitruvian Man shows the five points of the pentagram, and the proportional sectioning of limbs as they conform to the balance and growth of the Phi-based sequence.

For the purposes of the sf and fantasy fiction of These Fantastic Worlds, the stories of Jake Jackson, the Fibonacci sequence has an impact on the motivation of several characters and systems, and is used in conjunction with the concept of Being not Being, and Schopenhauer’s Will.

Links