Monday, May 17, 2010

The golden ratio

Here is the facade of the Parthenon. Hambige felt that a mathematical ratio known as the golden rectangle was used by the Greeks in its design. That is disputed today, and it depends how you choose your measuring points. Whether they did it intentionally or not, they instinctively used the proportions derived from the square root rectangle I presented last night.
What it means is that there is a mathematical relationship between the two pieces of line one is 1.683 (it is actually along irrational number) times longer than the short piece. There is the ratio.1.683.

Lots of things we deal with in the world use these proportions, or something close to them. here is an example below of those proportions.



The grill of this Bentley has approximately this shape turned vertically. Books and notebook paper, many standard sized artist's canvasses and the pelvises of rich Hollywood movie stars bear these same proportions.

I would like to congratulate Rima Fakih on winning the Miss USA pageant. I have in the past insisted that Taylor Swift was the most talented young woman in America....now I'm not so sure.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh my Lord ... she won? I was turning the channel and I heard her answer a question and I just rolled my eyes ... and turned to on Dumb and Dumber ... ;v)

Philip Koch said...

I've measured and re-measured my pelvis bones. Sure enough, they're exactly fit the Golden Section ratio, but I still don't even have my first major movie deal, much less an adoring entourage. What am I doing wrong?

Stapleton Kearns said...

Frank;

I didn't watch the telethon, I have no TV. But she looks real talented in the pictures.I am also quite certain she is not a Basque separatist, and that's something I have been watching out for.
............Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Philip: The ideal is the measurement from side to side, the rectangle MUST be elongated. Yours is undoubtedly the vertical, which while nice, doesn't guarantee the sort of success that the horizontal model might. I of course, have no pelvis.
...........Stape

jeff said...

This web site on Phi is pretty good.

Notice how the square is divided in half and the diagonal from that point and not across the whole square. Same result however. 1.618 or Phi

Phi