As their results began to crystallize, at first they didn’t notice the striking patterns emerging. But a colleague who reviewed their work spotted the famed Fibonacci numbers—a list whose entries have ...

Time for some simple mathematics that span across the scientific world. This week, we’re exploring just some examples of the “golden ratio”. * Enough of getting bogged down in the numbers, here’s ...

Pine cones. Stock-market quotations. Sunflowers. Classical architecture. Reproduction of bees. Roman poetry. What do they have in common? In one way or another, these and many more creations of nature ...

Though generations of schoolchildren have cursed arithmetic, the world was a much more inconvenient place without it. Before the advent of modern arithmetic in the 13th century, basic calculations ...

A variation of a puzzle called the “pick-up sticks problem” asks the following question: If I have some number of sticks with random lengths between 0 and 1, what are the chances that no three of ...

Fibonacci retracement uses specific ratios to predict stock reversals. Key Fibonacci levels are 0%, 23.6%, 38.2%, 50%, 61.8%, and 100%. Investors use these levels for setting price goals and trading ...

What do pine cones and paintings have in common? A 13th century Italian mathematician named Leonardo of Pisa. Better known by his pen name, Fibonacci, he came up with a number sequence that keeps ...

This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist. If you find value in independent local reporting, make a donation to power our newsroom today. Listen 4:44 Though generations of ...