Bradley's Reviews > The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the World's Most Astonishing Number
The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the World's Most Astonishing Number
by
by
Well, I was expecting something a bit more exciting because of my natural love for Phi, simply because, you know... SPIRALS are EVERYWHERE, Dude.
Still, the author does a palatable job of giving me a fairly decent history of mathematics from the focus of the Golden Ratio, the Golden Triangle, the logarithmic spiral, the Fibonacci sequence... all of which is, of course, the same thing, expressed slightly different with a ton of additional cultural significances.
No surprise here. This is Phi.
However, I did take umbrage against some of the side explanations early on for why ancient or apparently unsophisticated tribes didn't have numbers that counted past four. I mean, sheesh, if we went purely by the mystical importance that the Pythagoreans placed upon the first couple of numbers, we might also believe they couldn't count past five. It's a mistake of the first order, taking a little bit of data and coming to enormous conclusions based on our own prejudices.
That's my problem, I suppose, and he does at least bring up the option that the ancient peoples might have been working on a base four mathematical system, but for me, it was too little, too late. I cultivated a little patience, waiting until we get further along the mathematical histories past the Greeks and into the Hindus and the Arabics where it got a lot more interesting, and then firmly into known territory with the Rennaisance.
Most interesting, but also rather sparse, was the Elliot wave and the modern applications of Phi. I wish we had spent a lot more time on that, honestly.
But as for the rest, giving us a piecemeal exploration of Phi in history, art, and math, this does its job rather well.
Still, the author does a palatable job of giving me a fairly decent history of mathematics from the focus of the Golden Ratio, the Golden Triangle, the logarithmic spiral, the Fibonacci sequence... all of which is, of course, the same thing, expressed slightly different with a ton of additional cultural significances.
No surprise here. This is Phi.
However, I did take umbrage against some of the side explanations early on for why ancient or apparently unsophisticated tribes didn't have numbers that counted past four. I mean, sheesh, if we went purely by the mystical importance that the Pythagoreans placed upon the first couple of numbers, we might also believe they couldn't count past five. It's a mistake of the first order, taking a little bit of data and coming to enormous conclusions based on our own prejudices.
That's my problem, I suppose, and he does at least bring up the option that the ancient peoples might have been working on a base four mathematical system, but for me, it was too little, too late. I cultivated a little patience, waiting until we get further along the mathematical histories past the Greeks and into the Hindus and the Arabics where it got a lot more interesting, and then firmly into known territory with the Rennaisance.
Most interesting, but also rather sparse, was the Elliot wave and the modern applications of Phi. I wish we had spent a lot more time on that, honestly.
But as for the rest, giving us a piecemeal exploration of Phi in history, art, and math, this does its job rather well.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
The Golden Ratio.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
March 29, 2017
– Shelved
March 29, 2017
– Shelved as:
to-read
April 3, 2017
–
Started Reading
April 4, 2017
– Shelved as:
2017-shelf
April 4, 2017
– Shelved as:
history
April 4, 2017
– Shelved as:
non-fiction
April 4, 2017
– Shelved as:
science
April 4, 2017
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-11 of 11 (11 new)
date
newest »
message 1:
by
[Name Redacted]
(new)
-
added it
Apr 04, 2017 05:01PM
Might I recommend "Uzumaki" by Junji Ito?
reply
|
flag
*lol* I didn't even know you were reading science books other than those of Dawkins and Tyson at the moment. To be completely honest: I don't think I'd enjoy a book about the number Phi that much either. ;P
Oh I'm in a full science kick right now. :) I've got some Penrose coming up, too. :)
Don't knock Phi, though! When I read about the Elliot wave, it blew me away. The rise and fall of human civilizations follow this same natural phenomenon, not just galaxies and snails. :)
Don't knock Phi, though! When I read about the Elliot wave, it blew me away. The rise and fall of human civilizations follow this same natural phenomenon, not just galaxies and snails. :)
I suppose? I mean Pi has a lot of pie jokes, but Phi just spirals down into ever-decreasing (or increasing) rates of change. What jokes have you heard?
The one I can halfway remember was actually like a competition between Phi and Pi (with pie winning of course). The others were snort-worthy but not memorable, sorry.
Wanna hear something (not really) funny? Pi, in German, is pronounced as pee. Make THAT into a joke. :D