Golden Section - 23 November 2020 - Plague Journal Day 256

Micah 6:8
Psalm 90:12
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today is Fibonacci Day, celebrated on 11/23 (in the American way of writing dates) as those are the first four numbers in the famous sequence - 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 ... where one starts with the two 1s and the next entry is simply the sum of the previous two. (Sometimes we see it as 0 1 1 2 3 ... and so one supposes 01/12 or January 12 (or 01 December for that matter) could be an alternative date for celebration.

Why do we care about these numbers? Well, as we go further along the sequence, the ratio between the successive entries comes closer and closer (approaches asymptotically as we say in the maths biz) to the golden section. This ratio is found all over in nature, and tends to be one of the most pleasing proportions in art and architecture.
It's named for the fellow who "discovered" it - Irving Fibonacci. He was playing with a cheap electronic calculator one day and found that the M+ button would give him hours of adding pleasure. This sequence was one that seemed most fun to him, so he wrote it in the margins of the novel he was reading at the time - The Name of the Rose - and it was found by a professor of mathematics at the University of Padua, traced back to its author, and published with full credit given to young Irving.

OK, none of that was true, other than the fact that the sequence of numbers was named for its discoverer. According to Wikipedia:

Fibonacci, also known as Leonardo Bonacci, Leonardo of Pisa, or Leonardo Bigollo Pisano, was an Italian mathematician from the Republic of Pisa, considered to be "the most talented Western mathematician of the Middle Ages"

Do a little googling (or duck-duck-go-ing) and see just how prevalent these numbers are - even the spacing of leaves growing on the stalks of plants follow this pattern. Brilliant!

Additionally, today is Wolfenoot; a celebration of all things nice about canines (both wild and domesticated) and their relationships with us. Do something nice to or for a dog or wolf today.


Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.