The Golden Ratio

In this fascinating book, Mario Livio tells the tale of the number phi, or 1.6180339887. This curious mathematical relationship, widely known as the "golden ratio," was defined by Euclid more than two thousand years ago because of its crucial role in the construction of the pentagram, to which magical properties had been attributed. Since then it has appeared in the most astonishing variety of places--from mollusk shells, sunflower florets, and the crystals of some materials, to the shapes of galaxies. It has been asserted that the creators of the Pyramids and the Parthenon employed it; it is believed to feature in works of art from Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" to Salvador Dali's "Sacrament of the Last Supper"; and it is supposedly linked to the behavior of the stock market.

The Golden Ratio also tells the human story of numerous phi-fixated individuals, from the followers of Pythagoras to astronomer Johannes Kepler to modern figures like Debussy, Le Corbusier, and Bartók. Wherever his quest for the meaning of phi takes him, Mario Livio reveals the world as a place where order, beauty, and eternal mystery will always coexist.