Fibonacci

Fibonacci, also known as Leonardo Bonacci, Leonardo Fibonacci and Leonardo of Pisa, lived c. 1170–1250. He was an Italian mathematician.[1] He was thought "the most talented Western mathematician of the Middle Ages".[2][3]

Statue of Fibonacci by Giovanni Paganucci in the Camposanto di Pisa, 1863

Fibonacci popularized the Hindu–Arabic numeral system to the Western World.[4] He did this in his composition in 1202 of Liber Abaci (Book of Calculation).[5] He also introduced to Europe the sequence of Fibonacci numbers which he used as an example in Liber Abaci.[6]

Fibonacci number sequence

Fibonacci is best known for the list of numbers called the Fibonacci Sequence. The list never stops, but it starts this way:

1,  1,  2,  3,  5,  8,  13,  21,  34,  55,  89, 144,  233,  
377,  610,  987,  1597,  2584...

In this list, a person can find the next number by adding the last two numbers together.

1 + 1 = 2
    1 + 2 = 3
        2 + 3 = 5
            3 + 5 = 8
                5 + 8 = 13
                    8 + 13 = 21
                        13 + 21 = 34
                             21 + 34 = 55
                                  34 + 55 = 89
                                       55 + 89 = 144
                                            89 + 144 = 233
                                                 144 + 233 = 377
                                                       233 + 377 = 610
                                                             377 + 610 = 987
                                                                   610 + 987 = 1597
                                                                         987 + 1597 = 2584
                                                                         etc...

This series is also interesting because the ratio of two adjacent numbers in the series approaches the golden ratio.[7]

References
  1. "The Fibonacci Series – Biographies – Leonardo Fibonacci (ca.1175 – ca.1240)". Library.thinkquest.org. Archived from the original on 2010-02-05. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  2. Eves, Howard. An Introduction to the History of Mathematics. Brooks Cole, 1990: ISBN 0-03-029558-0 (6th ed.), p 261.
  3. "Famous Mathematicians – The Greatest Mathematicians of All Time".
  4. "Fibonacci Numbers". www.halexandria.org.
  5. Leonardo Pisano – page 3: "Contributions to number theory". Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2006. Retrieved 18 September 2006.
  6. Singh, Parmanand. "Acharya Hemachandra and the (so called) Fibonacci Numbers". Math. Ed. Siwan , 20(1):28–30, 1986. ISSN 0047-6269]
  7. Livio, Mario. (2003). The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the World's Most Astonishing Number, pp. 96-97.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.