Book Review: The Golden Ratio by Mario Livio - a podcast by ApocD

I love books about math. One of the best books I've read since I came to Japan wasFermat's Last Thereomby Simon Singh. That books follows the history of a solution for one math problem, which remained unsolved for hundreds of years. This book,The Golden Ratio, is about a single number, phi, which is irrational, just like pi. I won't go into the details here, because I can't really remember them, but there is a relationship between the Golden Ratio (1.6180339887...) and the Fibonacci numbers. This relationship is explored, as is the ubiquity of the Fibonaccis in nature. Also explored is the idea that the golden ratio has aesthetic qualities that have resulted in its use over the centuries in art and architecture. The author remains mostly skeptical of these ideas, something I like, and lays out the history so that we aren't quick to jump to the conclusion that the pyramids, etc, were built with the ratio in mind, when measurements to make such an assessment are quite arbitrary. Overall, it was an awesome read and has helped continue my string of great books in 2008.

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