11/23/2022
Do you know why Fibonacci day is celebrated at Nov 23th?
One of the most important mathematicians of the Middle Ages, Leonardo Bonacci — later known as Fibonacci, “the son of” Bonacci — invented a sequence of numbers that shows up constantly in nature, physics, and design.
Starting with 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, the Fibonacci sequence is created by adding up the two previous numbers to get the next one. Fibonacci’s original example for his sequence pondered the population growth of rabbits. If starting with one pair, and each month that pair bears a new pair, the number of rabbits will grow at a rate consistent with his pattern of numbers.
The Golden Ratio, a proportion associated with the Fibonacci sequence and also frequently found in nature, is roughly 1 to 1.6. This ratio shows up in the branching patterns of trees, the distribution of seeds in berries, the spiral arms of galaxies, and many more natural and human-engineered things.
Fibonacci Day celebrates this important mathematician and gives us an opportunity to marvel at the way math pervades everything around us. The Fibonacci sequence can be used to calculate the proportions of countless things on Earth and beyond, such as animals, plants, weather patterns, and even galaxies. Pause to observe your surroundings and you’ll start to notice the familiar spiral all around you!
