Fibonacci numbers in popular culture

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The Fibonacci numbers form a sequence of integers, mathematically defined by:

F(0) = 0. F(1) = 1. F(n) = F(n−1) + F(n−2), for n > 1.

So after the two initial numbers, each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers:

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, ...

This concept is easily understood by non-mathematicians and has appeared many times in popular culture. Fibonacci numbers have for example been mentioned in novels, films, episodes of television shows, and songs. They have also been used in the creation of music and visual art.

Contents

[edit] Architecture

[edit] Cinema

[edit] Literature

  • The Fibonacci sequence plays a small part in the bestselling novel and film The Da Vinci Code
  • The Fibonacci sequence plays a part in unravelling the Atlantis Code in Stel Pavlou's bestselling novel Decipher.
  • Fibs (poems of a specific form as per the fibonacci sequence) have been popularized by Gregory K. Pincus on his blog, Gottabook.
  • The sequence features prominently in the poems "This is Genius" and "One Must Wonder" by Canadian Artist and Poet Derek R. Audette.
  • A part of the Fibonacci sequence is used as a code in Matthew Reilly's novel Ice Station.
  • The sequence is used in the novel The Wright 3 by Blue Balliett.
  • In Phillip K. Dick's novel VALIS, the Fibonacci sequence (as well as the Fibonacci constant) are used as identification signs by an organization called the "Friends of God".
  • In the collection of poetry alfabet by the Danish poet Inger Christensen, the Fibonacci sequence is used to define the number of lines in each poem.
  • The Fibonacci sequence is one of many mathematical topics in Scarlett Thomas's novel PopCo whose main character has an affinity for mathematics.

[edit] Music

  • MC Paul Barman structured the rhymes in his song "Enter Pan-Man" according to the Fibonacci sequence. [1]
  • Dr. Steel released a song titled "Fibonacci Sequence" in 2005.
  • BT (Brian Transeau) released a dance track in 2000, entitled the "Fibonacci Sequence," which features a sample of a reading of the sequence. He also used the Fibonacci sequence as a compositional structure in his album This Binary Universe (2006).
  • Tool's song "Lateralus" from the album of the same name features the Fibonacci sequence symbolically in the verses of the song. The syllables in the first verse count 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 5, 3, 13, 8, 5, 3. Similarly, on Tool's 10,000 Days album there has already been speculation about more Fibonacci references embedded within the album.
  • The ratios of justly tuned octave, fifth, and major and minor sixths are ratios of consecutive Fibonacci numbers.
  • Ernő Lendvai analyzes Béla Bartók's works as being based on two opposing systems, that of the golden ratio and the acoustic scale.[1] In Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta the xylophone progression occurs at the intervals 1:2:3:5:8:5:3:2:1.[2]
  • French composer Erik Satie used the golden ratio in several of his pieces, including Sonneries de la Rose+Croix. His use of the ratio gave his music an otherworldly symmetry.
  • The Fibonacci numbers are also apparent in the organisation of the sections in the music of Debussy's Image, Reflections in Water, in which the sequence of keys is marked out by the intervals 34, 21, 13 and 8.[2]
  • American composer Casey Mongoven has developed a style of music characterized by the Fibonacci numbers and the golden ratio.

[edit] Television

  • The Fibonacci sequence is a key plot point in the television show Mathnet's episode "The Case of the Willing Parrot."
  • The Fibonacci sequence is also referenced to in NUMB3RS, the television series. Many times the cast reference note the relationship the sequence has with nature to further emphasise the wonders of mathematics.
  • It was also used as a key plot point in an episode of the Disney Channel original television series So Weird.
  • Used in Steven Spielberg's miniseries Taken.
  • The pattern of Commander Data's eye blinking is based on the Fibonacci sequence in Star Trek: The Next Generation. [citation needed]

[edit] Visual Arts

  • In a FoxTrot comic, Jason and Marcus are playing football. Jason yells, "Hut 0! Hut 1! Hut 1! Hut 2! Hut 3! Hut 5! Hut 8! Hut 13!" Marcus yells, "Is it the Fibonacci sequence?" Jason says, "Correct! Touchdown, Marcus!"
  • Marilyn Manson uses the sequence overtly in a watercolor painting entitled Fibonacci during his Holy Wood era, which uses bees as focal points. More discreetly, Manson used the sequence in the interior album art of Antichrist Superstar in his depiction of "The Vitruvian Man", in the vein of Leonardo DaVinci's work which was also based on the sequence. There is also speculation that some of the beats in the songs on the album Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) are based on the Fibonacci sequence.
  • Mario Merz frequently uses the Fibonacci sequence in his art work.
  • Valerie Page uses a Fibonacci geometric pattern in her quilted works of art. PageQuilts.com

[edit] Games

  • The Fibonacci numbers are used for a variety of purposes in the Earthdawn role playing game.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Lendvai, Ernő (1971). Béla Bartók: An Analysis of His Music. London: Kahn and Averill.
  2. ^ a b Smith, Peter F. The Dynamics of Delight: Architecture and Aesthetics (New York: Routledge, 2003) p. 83, ISBN 0-4153-0010-X

[edit] External links

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