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The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the World's Most Astonishing Number
by Mario Livio
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About This Book
ISBN13: 9780767908160 
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Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:
Throughout history, thinkers from mathematicians to theologians have pondered the mysterious relationship between numbers and the nature of reality. In this fascinating book, Mario Livio tells the tale of a number at the heart of that mystery: phi, or 1.6180339887...This curious mathematical relationship, widely known as "The Golden Ratio," was discovered by Euclid more than two thousand years ago because of its crucial role in the construction of the pentagram, to which magical properties had been attributed. Since then it has shown a propensity to appear in the most astonishing variety of places, from mollusk shells, sunflower florets, and rose petals to the shape of the galaxy. Psychological studies have investigated whether the Golden Ratio is the most aesthetically pleasing proportion extant, and it has been asserted that the creators of the Pyramids and the Parthenon employed it. It is believed to feature in works of art from Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa to Salvador Dali's The Sacrament of the Last Supper, and poets and composers have used it in their works. It has even been found to be connected to the behavior of the stock market!
The Golden Ratio is a captivating journey through art and architecture, botany and biology, physics and mathematics. It tells the human story of numerous phi-fixated individuals, including the followers of Pythagoras who believed that this proportion revealed the hand of God; astronomer Johannes Kepler, who saw phi as the greatest treasure of geometry; such Renaissance thinkers as mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci of Pisa; and such masters of the modern world as Goethe, Cezanne, Bartok, and physicist Roger Penrose. Wherever his quest for the meaning of phi takes him, Mario Livio reveals the world as a place where order, beauty, and eternal mystery will always coexist.
Book News Annotation:
Livio (head, Science Division, Hubble Space Telescope Science
Institute) tells the tale of the number phi (1.6180339887) and the
golden ratio. He explains its uses in art and architecture and its
abundant examples in nature, and tells the human story of numerous
phi-fixated individuals, from Pythagoras and Kepler to classical
composers. B&w illustrations are included.
Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Review:
"[An] entertaining review of the history of mathematics...A nice mental workout." Linda Schlossberg, San Francisco Chronicle
Review:
"Engagingly enthusiastic...It's hard not to feel inspired and even unsettled by the hidden order Livio reveals." New Scientist
Review:
"Numbers aficionados will delight in astrophysicist Livio's history of an irrational number whose fame is second only to that of pi....Livio's encyclopedic selection of subjects, supported by dozens of illustrations, will snare anyone with a recreational interest in mathematics." Booklist
Review:
"With a guide to the history of ideas as impassioned as Livio, even the math-phobic can experience the shock and pleasure of scientific discovery. This thoroughly enjoyable work vividly demonstrates to the general reader that, as Galileo put it, the universe is, indeed, written in the language of mathematics." Publishers Weekly
Review:
"The harmonious qualities of the golden ratio — phi — are pleasingly scanned in this history of the number, and by extension, a historical tour of numbers in general....A shining example of the aesthetics of mathematics." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis:
The first book for the layperson on a mathematical relationship that has obsessed mathematicians, philosophers, scientists, and artists since ancient Greece — an omnipresent number considered to be "divine."
What Our Readers Are Saying
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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
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Katy_Delahunty, August 17, 2006 (view all comments by Katy_Delahunty)
Mental gymnastics. An absolute pleasure to read and wonder if everything that is random can share this similar element how random can life really be? Wonderfully written, good pace and unambigious language.
Product Details
- ISBN:
- 9780767908160
- Subtitle:
- The Story of Phi, the World's Most Astonishing Number
- Author:
- Publisher:
- Broadway Books
- Subject:
- Research
- Subject:
- Geometry - General
- Subject:
- History -- Philosophy.
- Copyright:
- 2002
- Edition Description:
- Trade Pbk
- Publication Date:
- September 2003
- Binding:
- Paperback
- Language:
- English
- Illustrations:
- Y
- Pages:
- 304
- Dimensions:
- 8.00x5.22x.65 in. .49 lbs.
