THE FIBONACCI SEQUENCE AS IT APPEARS I N NATURE S e L e Basin San J o s e State College 1.

INTRODUCTION

53

The r e g u l a r s p i r a l a r r a n g e m e n t o leaves around plant stalks has enjoyed much attention by botanists and m a t h e m a t i c i a n s in their attempt to unravel the m y s t e r i e s of this organic s y m m e t r y . Because of the abundance of l i t e r a t u r e on phyllotaxis no m o r e attention will be devoted to it h e r e , However, the Fibonacci numbers have the strange habit of appearing where l e a s t expected in other natural phenomena. The following snapshots will demons t r a t e this fact. (See r e f e r e n c e s 1 and 3 for a discussion of phyllotaxis,) 2. THE GENEALOGICAL TREE OF THE MALE BEE We shall t r a c e the a n c e s t r a l t r e e of the male bee backwards^ keeping in mind that the male bee hatches from an unfertilized egg e The fertilized eggs hatch into female s, either w o r k e r s or queens. The following diagram c l e a r l y shows that the number of a n c e s t o r s in any one generation is a Fibonacci numb e r . The symbol (m) r e p r e s e n t s a male and the symbol (f) r e p r e s e n t s a female,

f.m

f r m

ff-m

fT-rcL

mif

13(8f, 5m) 8( 5f, 3m) 5( 3f,2m) 3( 2f,lm) 2(lf,lm) l(lf,0m)

i T T i r i
m

mi f f

T
I
m

_ _

__

f^-p*.m

m . s __ a f

I m

54

FIBONACCI S E Q U E N C E IN N A T U R E

3. SIMPLE E L E C T R I C A L NETWORKS E v e n t h o s e p e o p l e i n t e r e s t e d in e l e c t r i c a l n e t w o r k s c a n n o t e s c a p e f r o m o u r f r i e n d F i b o n a c c i * C o n s i d e r the f o l l o w i n g s i m p l e n e t w o r k of r e s i s t o r s known a s a l a d d e r n e t w o r k . T h i s c i r c u i t c o n s i s t s of n L - s e c t i o n s in c a s c a d e and c a n be c h a r a c t e r i z e d o r d e s c r i b e d by c a l c u l a t i n g t h e a t t e n u a t i o n w h i c h i s s i m p l y the i n p u t v o l t a g e d i v i d e d by t h e o u t put v o l t a g e and d e n o t e d by A> the i n p u t i m p e d a n c e Z . and the output i m p e d a n c e Z . ( F o r a d e t a i l e d d i s c u s s i o n r e f e r to r e f e r e n c e 4 . ) P r o c e e d i n g in a m a n n e r s i m i l a r to m a t h e m a t i c a l i n d u c t i o n , c o n s i d e r the following l a d d e r n e t w o r k s .
R

^l

W h e n n -.= 1, Z A = R 9 0 2

-VW-i
Z.
1

z.
Z

m R.. + R

1 ^ 2

<

~~2

= R 1 / R 2 + 1.

W h e n n = 2:
R

i
R Z

-AM-rAAAr-i
2 0

'0

2 ( R 1 + R 2> Rx + 2 R 2 1R2(R1+2R2^ R1+2R2

<R1

+ R

2^R1 R2

+ 2R

2>

~R22

+ R

z. =

2(R1+R2>

F I B O N A C C I S E Q U E N C E IN N A T U R E

55

W h e n n = 3:
R

o '
R

1R2(R1+2R2> + R2(R1+R2> ( R 1 + R 2 ) ( R 1 + 3R2)

+ 5 R

z. =
1

1R2

R2
R

+ 4 R R
5 R

+ 3 R^
+ 6 R

2 R

+ R

R,

Now s u p p o s e a l l t h e r e s i s t o r s h a v e the s a m e v a l u e , n a m e l y , R, = R = 1 o h m . We h a v e by i n d u c t i o n : 1 2 F. 2n-l A = (F_ . + F 9 ) 2n+l' 2n-l 2n' 0

2n

2n + 1
Z

i=

2n

In o t h e r w o r d s , the l a d d e r n e t w o r k c a n be a n a l y z e d b y i n s p e c t i o n ; a s n i s a l l o w e d t o i n c r e a s e , n = 1, 2, . 3 , 4 , . . , the v a l u e o Z for n L - s e c t i o n s c o i n c i d e s w i t h the n t h t e r m in the s e q u e n c e of F i b o n a c c i r a t i o s , i 8 e e , 1 / 1 , 2 / 3 , 5 / 8 , , 13/21, . . . . The v a l u e for A i s g i v e n by the s u m of the n u m e r a t o r and d e n o m i n a t o r of Z . The v a l u e of Z. i s a l s o c l e a r l y r e l a t e d to the e x p r e s s i o n for A and Z .

56

F I B O N A C C I S E Q U E N C E IN N A T U R E

4 . SOME R E F L E C T I O N S ( C o m m u n i c a t e d to u s by L e o M o s e r ) The r e f l e c t i o n of l i g h t r a y s w i t h i n two p l a t e s of g l a s s i s e x p r e s s e d in t e r m s of t h e F i b o n a c c i n u m b e r s ^ i. e., if no r e f l e c t i o n s a r e a l l o w e d , one r a y will e m e r g e ; if one r e f l e c t i o n is a l l o w e d , two r a y s w i l l e m e r g e , . m m , e t c .

lumber of

reflections

Number of emerging r a y s
R e f e r t o p r o b l e m B~6 of E l e m e n t a r y P r o b l e m s and S o l u tions. F o r Additional Reading 1. I n t r o d u c t i o n t o G e o m e t r y , H. S. M . C o x e t e r , p p . 169172. J o h n W i l e y and S o n s , I n c . , 1961. A c o m p l e t e c h a p t e r on p h y l l o t a x i s and F i b o n a c c i n u m b e r s a p p e a r s in e a s i l y d i gestible t r e a t m e n t . 2. The F i b o n a c c i N u m b e r s , N . N . V o r o b y o v , B l a i s d e l l , New Y o r k , 1961. ( T r a n s l a t i o n f r o m the R u s s i a n by H a l i n a Moss) This booklet d i s c u s s e s the e l e m e n t a r y p r o p e r t i e s of F i b o n a c c i / n u m b e r s , t h e i r a p p l i c a t i o n to g e o m e t r y , and t h e i r c o n n e c t i o n with the t h e o r y of c o n t i n u e d f r a c t i o n s . 3. T h e L a n g u a g e of M a t h e m a t i c s , R o b e r t L a n d , C h a p t e r XIII, p p . 215-225", J o h n M u r r a y , I 9 6 0 , L o n d o n . A v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g chapter including some phyllotaxis. 4 . A p p e a r a n c e of F i b o n a c c i N u m b e r s and the Q M a t r i x in E l e c t r i c a l N e t w o r k T h e o r y , S . L . B a s i n , M a t h e m a t i c s M a g a z i n e , M a r c h , 1963.