Written By Arav Garg (Grade 7)
“A certain man put a pair of rabbits in a place surrounded on all sides by a wall. How many pairs of rabbits can be produced from that pair in a year if it is supposed that every month each pair begets a new pair, which from the second month on becomes productive?” – Leonardo Pisano Fibonacci
This cannot be a coincidence, nature is trying to send us a message. The galaxies, the cyclones, the trees, the flowers and even microscopic DNA molecules exist in a sequence!
Yes, this sequence is the Fibonacci sequence. It is closely related to the golden ratio (phi). This sequence of numbers is infinite and is obtained by adding the previous number in the sequence starting from 0 (0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13….). If we divide each number to its immediate predecessor in the sequence for example- 5 divided by 3 is equal to 1.666 which is very close to the golden ratio (1.618). From this we can even make the geometric golden spiral whose growth factor is 1.618 or phi. This sequence was discovered by the Indian mathematician Aacharya Pingala although it is named after Leonardo Pisano Fibonacci who used this sequence in his book Liber Abaci and discovered it by solving the rabbit problem mentioned in the above quote.
We can spot this sequence and spiral in nature. It is also used by artists and designers to make paintings and logos. In nature we observe the sequence in various places such as the largest of the galaxies and in our microscopic DNA molecules. If we see the cyclones and galaxies, they fit in the golden spiral in themselves. trees have branches mostly in Fibonacci numbers, the flowers have petals in Fibonacci numbers. The DNA molecule measures 34 angstroms long by 21 angstroms wide for each full cycle of its double helix spiral. Both 34 and 21 are Fibonacci numbers. I am really inspired by the fact that how does nature plan such thing and keep them in such a sequence. The perfect arrangement of the flower heads, pinecones, seashells etc.
The Fibonacci sequence is found in many places in nature and nature follows it with a lot of discipline. Like the largest of the galaxies to the microscopic DNA everything has the Fibonacci sequence embedded into it. There are rules which the mighty nature follows with Fibonacci being one of them. We as microscopic spec should also respect the nature and follow the rules set by the society and nature for the greater good of the universe.
Maybe mother nature is trying to send us a message that we have not been able to decipher yet and the beauty of this sequence are occurring in other places too.
Featured Image Courtesy – Analytics Vidhya
