Fibonacci’s Fractional Flowers: Mathematics Patterns in Seeds and Petals

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We live in a universe of patterns. Human mind and culture have developed a formal system of thought for recognizing, classifying, and exploiting those patterns: we call it mathematics. By using mathematics to organise and systematise our ideas about patterns, we have discovered a great secret: nature's patterns are not just there to be admired, they are vital clues to the rules that govern natural processes.

This lecture considers the startling appearance of the Fibonnaci sequence in nature.

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This event was on Thu, 14 Mar 1996

Professor Ian Stewart

Professor Ian Stewart FRS

Professor of Geometry

Ian Stewart read Mathematics at Churchill College, Cambridge before completing his doctorate at the University of Warwick where he is now a Professor of Maths...

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