Paula A. Wilhite, Ed. D.

Professor of Mathematics
Division Director Math, Physics, & Engineering
AMATYC 2013
Grand Salon E
S063

1862 - Birth
1870 - Music Lessons
1872 - Paris Conservatory
1879 - First Compositions
1890s - Clair de lune
1905 - Reflet de leau
1910 - Girl with the Flaxen Hair
1918 - Death

Mona Lisa
Leonardo da Vinci
Early 1500s

Nicknamed for Leonardo da Pisa (1170-1250)

Fn+1 = Fn-1 + Fn , if n>1
F0 = 0 F 1 = 1
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144,

1.5

1.66667

1.6

13

1.625

13

21

1.6153846

21

34

1.6190476

34

55

1.6176471

55

89

1.6181818

89

144

1.6179775

French Mathematician Edouard Lucas

(1842-1891)
Ln = Ln-1 + Ln-2 for n>1
L0 = 2
L1 = 1
2, 1, 3, 4, 7, 11, 18, 29, 47, 76, 123, 199,

55 bars of introduction to the last

movement of La mer;
21 bars of introduction to Rondes de
Printemps from the orchestral Images;
34 bars comprising the first
3/8 section of Jeux;
34 bars in first reprise of Reflets dans leau
55 bars to the beginning of its climax.

Three primary GS divisions

40 bars: 25 bars 16 bars: 10 bars
24 bars: 15 bars
All above equivalent to 8:5
8 and 5 are both Fibonacci numbers.

Most lucid exposition of the

structural and proportional
principles
Dramatic & Dynamic Shape

Total: 94 bars
Dynamic Focus: 58 bars
Overall GS -- 94:58
Cancels to 47:29 -- Lucas Numbers

Primary GS -- 34:21
Secondary GS -- 15:24
Cancels to 13:8 Fibonacci Numbers

Overall GS 39: 23 bars

One bar removed from 13:8

GS of GS 26: 10 bars
Cancels to 13:5 Fibonacci Numbers

Central GS 5: 3 bars
or 15:9 beats
Cancels to 5:3 Fibonacci Numbers

Dr. Ron Clinton

Executive Vice President for Instruction
Mary Galloway Wade
Technical Designer
Mary Lou Goodson
Videographer

Crilly, David. Perception of Mathematical Structure and

Architectural Design: Form and Forming in Music.
Department of Music, Anglia Polytechnic University,
Cambridge, England.
Griffiths, Paul. 1985. Modern Music, A Concise History from
Debussy to Boulez. New York: Thames and Hudson Inc.
Howat, Roy. 1983. Debussy in Proportion; A Musical Analysis.
Great Britain: Cambridge University Press.

McHard, James L. 2008. The Future of Modern Music. Michigan:

Iconic Press. Pages 45 53.
Rosen, Kenneth H. 2000. Elementary Number Theory and Its
Applications. 4th Edition. New York: Addison Wesley
Longman, Inc.
www.debussy.fr/encd/bio/bio1_62-82.php
www.goldennumber.net/architecture/fineart
www.maa.org/2008foundmath/2009foundmath
www.maths.surrey.ac.uk/hostedsites

Paula A. Wilhite, Ed.D.

Northeast Texas Community College
pwilhite@ntcc.edu

A mathematician, like a painter or poet, is a

maker of patterns. If his (her) patterns are more
prominent than theirs, it is because they are
made with ideas.