Everything in nature works together to form a unique pattern that keeps life on earth thriving. To look at the macroscopic view of nature, it may seem chaotic with its destructive forces and masses of life. Looking closer at the individual aspects of nature you can see that as untamed and wild that nature may seem, it follows a more uniform way of living. There are unexplained wonders in nature in the number of seeds in a flower or number of spines on a fruit. What might seem a chaotic mess in nature; is beautifully following a mathematical sequence, which is awe-inspiring.
The Fibonacci Sequence in Nature
The Fibonacci sequence naturally exists in nature, because it models model physical reality, and it also represents structure and sequences. The Fibonacci sequence is commonly seen in the inside spiral of a flower, this spiral is called a Fibonacci spiral and is also sometimes known as “The Golden Angle.” The Breeding of animals is also another classic example of the Fibonacci sequence, as it follows at specific intervals and patterns. Different creatures and plants have demonstrated their part in the Fibonacci sequence, and some of them may shock you, making you wonder about the power of nature.
Leonardo Piscano Bigollo discovered the sequence in the 12th century. He was fondly called ‘Fibonacci’ hence the naming convention. The extensive ability of the Fibonacci sequence is far greater than what Piscano had ever imagined. This numerical pattern is sometimes used in computer science and in finances, to predict when an asset’s value will stop and lose its value. The ‘Golden Angle’ is also present in other significant forms of nature like hurricanes forming, galaxies in space, and even in smaller ways such as the structure of pineapple or on the leaves and petals of plants. In short, everything that might seem chaotic has a sequence of the mathematically perfected structure.
Creatures on Earth
The Nautilus is a deep-sea creature that resembles an ammonite. The shell of this deep-sea creature is a classic example of maths in nature, as it consists of the Fibonacci sequence. If you pay close attention to the spiral of a nautilus’s shell, you can see a spiral starting of tight and gradually unwinding and tapering at the end. If you measure each of the curves and spirals with a golden rectangle, you are guaranteed to find it mimicking the Fibonacci sequence.
The same can be said for snail and starfish that has five arms. Human beings have ten digits in total. That means they have eight fingers and two thumbs. All of these are true to the Fibonacci sequence. Plants and fruit have also demonstrated the same. Take for example the pineapple. The spines of the fruit are equal to the sequence, and so are the number of petals you will find in flowers and the bracts in pinecones. Every creature on earth, including the smallest cell, demonstrates the sequence, which goes to show how everything in nature works in sync.