Leonardo Pisano Bigollo - aka Fibonacci

Leonardo Pisano Bigollo - aka Fibonacci (pronounced fee - bee - nach - ee {Italian hand gestures will get you bonus points}) was an Italian mathematician, considered by some "the most talented Western mathematician of the Middle Ages." 

He is best known for spreading the Hindu-Arabic numeral system through Europe in the year 1202.  You know that basic counting method we use today...1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.....(There wasn't much on television back then.)

Leonardo figured out the Fibonacci Sequence of numbers 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144.

The next number in the sequence is found by adding the previous two numbers.
1 + 1 = 2
1 + 2 = 3
2 + 3 = 5
5 + 3 = 8

If you were laying tile, you could use the Fibonacci number sequence to create a pattern such as this:

 

The number sequence also creates a spiral.

The Fibonacci Sequence can be written as a rule:

X8 = X7 + X6

Then it gets really mathy really quickly:

For those non math lovers out there, I hear you saying 'Blah blah blah. Math. Math. Math.'  I agreed, too. 

I have several volunteer sunflowers growing where the bird feeder was previously located.

One of them bloomed this weekend.  And then I saw it...

 
See those seeds in the center of the sunflower...the Fibonacci Sequence.  It's in the veins of the leaves, too.  Here it is again, just trickier to see:

The math geek in me says "Cool." The gardener in me says "Those flowers are beautiful and perfect.  Plant more."

For the last two years we tried to plant sunflowers.  The rain washed them away.  The chipmunk dug them up.  I should have just asked for volunteers. 

I would love an entire field of sunflower volunteers.  There is always next spring to try again.