The Golden Section: Nature's Greatest Secret

by Scott Olsen

Overview

A beautiful and useful handbook on the Golden Section—also known as the Golden Ratio and Golden Mean—a perfect gift book.

The Golden Section is a line segment divided into two parts, such that the ratio of the short portion to the longer portion is equal to the ratio of the longer portion to the whole. It is one of the most elegant and beautiful ratios of the mathematical universe because of its combination of elegance and simplicity-hence the divine nature of its name.

Drawing on art, architecture, philosophy, nature, mathematics, geometry, and music-and beautifully illustrated in the Wooden Books fashion with all manner of images-The Golden Section will tell the story of this remarkable construct and its wide ranging impact on civilization and the natural world.

Wooden Books was founded in 1999 by designer John Martineau near Hay-on-Wye. The aim was to produce a beautiful series of recycled books based on the classical philosophies, arts and sciences. Using the Beatrix Potter formula of text facing picture pages, and old-styles fonts, along with hand-drawn illustrations and 19th century engravings, the books are designed not to date. Small but stuffed with information. Eco friendly and educational. Big ideas in a tiny space. There are over 1,000,000 Wooden Books now in print worldwide and growing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802715395
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	10/17/2006
Series:	Wooden Books
Pages:	64
Sales rank:	252,120
Product dimensions:	5.78(w) x 6.87(h) x 0.45(d)

About the Author

Dr. Olsen is one of the leading experts on the Golden Section, and an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Central Florida Community College in Ocala, Florida..

Read an Excerpt

Nature holds a great mystery, zealously guarded by her custodians from those who would profane or abuse the wisdom. Periodically portions of this tradition are quietly revealed to those of humanity who have attuned their eyes to see and ears to hear. The primary requirements are openness, sensitivity, enthusiasm, and an earnestness to understand the deeper meaning of nature's marvels exhibited to us daily. Many of us tend to walk through life half asleep, at times numbed, if not actually deadened to the exquisite order that surrounds us. But a trail of clues has been preserved.
The secretive tradition centres on a study of number, harmony, geometry and cosmology that stretches back through the mists of time into the Egyptian, Babylonian, Indian and Chinese cultures. It is evident in the layout and relationships of the stone circles and underground chambers of ancient Europe, as well as in Neolithic stones discovered in Britain, fashioned in the form of the five regular solids. There are further clues in Maya and other Mesoamerican artifacts and buildings, and across the ocean the Gothic masons embedded it in their cathedral designs.
The great Pythagorean philosopher, Plato, in his writings and oral teachings, hinted, though enigmatically, that there was a golden key unifying these mysteries.
Here is my promise to you: if you are willing to proceed step by step through this compact little book, it will be well nigh impossible not to grasp by the end a satisfying and stunning glimpse, if not deeply provocative insight, into Nature's Greatest Secret.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

The Mystery of Phi 2

Ratio, Means & Proportion 4

Plato's Divided Line 6

Phi on the Plane 8

The Fibonacci Sequence 10

Phyllotaxis Patterns 12

Order Behind Diversity 14

Lucas Number Magic 16

All Creatures 18

Phi in the Human Body 20

Growth & Diminution 22

Exponentials and Spirals 24

Golden Symmetry 26

Phi in Human Culture 28

Ancient of Days 30

My Cup Runneth Over 32

A Sacred Tradition 34

Phi in Painting 36

Melody & Harmony 38

All That Glisters 40

The Golden Chalice 42

Golden Polyhedra 44

Phi in the Sky 46

Resonance & Consciousness 48

The Philosopher's Stone 50

Appendices I Phi Equations, and II: Fibonacci Formulæ 52

Appendix III The Indefinite Dyad 54

Appendix IV Designer's Rectangles 56

Appendix V Golden Physics 57

Appendices VI More Lucas Magic, and VII: Phyllotaxis Angles 58

Editorial Reviews

"Stunning." — The New York Times

"Excellent." — New Scientist

"Fascinating." — Financial Times

"Beautiful." — London Review of Books

"Genuinely mind-expanding." — Fortean Times

"Rich and Artful." — The Lancet

From the Publisher