The Golden Section: Nature's Greatest Secret (Wooden Books, 18) Hardcover – October 17, 2006

One of the most famous and mysterious of numbers is pi, the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. If you know some mathematics and work with logarithms, you know another important constant, e. Less well known is the number phi (the Greek symbol looks like a capital I superimposed on an o); it is in many ways simpler than the other two and is just as interesting. All you have to do is take a line segment of any length, and put a point on the line so that the point divides the line into a big segment and a little one, and so that the little segment is to the big segment as the big segment is to the line you started with. The section you made, and the connected mathematics and art, are described and illustrated in _The Golden Section: Nature's Greatest Secret_ (Walker Books) by Scott Olsen, which ought to get an award for the book with the greatest density of information in the smallest package. It has but 58 small pages, and half of those are taken up with illustrations (which are wonderfully selected ). But if you follow the pages, and have pencil, paper, and a calculator beside you, there are depths here that bigger books never touch.It's not too interesting to put a point directly in the middle of a line. You get equal segments that way, or a ratio of one to one, or 1:1; and if a segment is 1, the whole line you bisected is 2, a ratio of 2:1. Plato knew, though, that that was one point that would divide the whole line into shorter and longer portions so that "the whole to the longer equals the longer to the shorter"; or if shorter is a, longer is b, and the whole is a + b, then a + b is to b as b is to a; in symbols, a + b : b as b : a, or a + b : b : a. The ratio is phi (pronounced "fye"). It's numerical equivalent is 1.6180339... (the ellipsis indicating its never-ending nature). There are plenty of surprising properties of this number, some of which you can find on your calculator. For instance, divide phi into one, and you get 0.6180339..., which is exactly one less than phi itself. If you square phi, you get 2.6180339..., which is exactly one more than phi itself. Phi shows up closely related to the Fibonacci Sequence, a series of numbers that shows up all over nature. Rectangles based on phi show up in architecture and art and even music."Because of its aesthetic qualities, embodied in its unique ability to relate the parts to the whole," writes Olsen, "golden ratios are used in the design of many modern household items." Credit cards, for instance, are very close to the 8 by 5 Fibonacci approximation of phi. Surely no one ever designed the first credit cards to reflect phi, but the ratio does seem to be inherently attractive. Olsen demonstrates that phi shows up in spirals of DNA, in human proportions, in icosahedrons, and so many other places. His handsome and accessible book is an exercise in an appealing numerology.

The author explain the basic of the Golden Section and the various areas where it can be found in nature, architecture, music, planet movements, geometry, etc. A small book to recall us of the classic that was forgotten in today world. The edition (Kindle) is poor with several small annoyances. Buy the print edition if possible.

I loved this little book and also bought a copy for my dad, who's read about 5 books on pi and didn't have a clue about phi. There's a saying, "Phi is an H of a lot cooler than pi," and I believe it. This crazy number, the Golden Ratio, is so intertwined throughout the universe, in nature, in mathematics, in everything, that I can't see why my math teachers didn't mention this to me back in high school. The author does a great job at presenting it in small bites to those who haven't seen much on phi before. Plus, I love the little artworks on each page that accompany the lessons. This book probably wouldn't add much for someone already well-versed on phi, but for a moderate or newcomer it's terrific. It's also a perfect bathroom book, since you can immerse yourself for about 300 words and then contemplate that for a day.

This is one of the very best volumes in the Wooden Books series, which is the best book series I can think of. Of course a text this size on a subject this large is going to be limited in scope, but all the the most important aspects of the golden section are hit upon. If you think you are being ripped off because there are other books on Phi that are much longer, think again - this is quality over quantity. What really impresses are the fine print and the notes in the back, which have a great deal of information and some of the better commentary on the esoteric nature of Plato's work, brief though they are, that I have seen. I like that the author seems to have a passion for this work, which enlivens what is a rather dull subject if handled in the wrong way.

Great history and explanation of the golden section. However, even the author admits that some people go crazy fitting things into the golden section or the pentagram/pentagon template. You can take a photo of almost anything in the world and superimpose a pentagon on it--that doesn't mean the world is ruled by the golden section.Yes, 98% of plants follow the Fibonacci number sequence. Which *is* pretty weird/cool. Some of the other stuff is over reaching.

I loved the ideas, concepts, and relationships explained in the text, however, I was disappointed with the design and layout of the book. Books in this series seem to be intended as quick, entertaining, and beautiful overviews of their respective topics. This book succeeds on the first two measures, but falls short of beautiful. Several of the illustration pages are black background with faint white artwork and small text - tough to read. Many of the illustrations have notations with text so small one needs a magnifying glass. Several of the concepts are presented with many small illustrations crowding the page instead of one illuminating example shown large. Overall, the book was not as pleasing as other excellent works in the series such as "Sacred Geometry" and "Platonic and Archimedian Solids."

This is a beautifully illustrated small book. But if you're looking for a well written explanation of the Golden Mean for the layperson, this isn't it. If you can read page 4 and understand the formulas on page five at the very beginning of the book then you'll do just fine. However, I am in my 60's and it's been decades since I was in a math class and though I'm pretty good at math given my age, this book didn't fulfill my hopes of an approachable way to learn more about the Golden Mean.

Interesting, concise, but informative. I find myself now actually looking for examples when I am out exploring nature. Hve used some of the examples and principals in designing scrapbook pages and art quilts. Well worth the money.

It’s a VERY small book, only 5”x6” and the illustrations are barely discernable. It is impossibe to make out the many dimensions used in the illustrations eve, so it is impossible to use them as guides for creating your own sacred shapes etc. I do not recommend it.

I struggled with this book to start with but it was worth the effort. I bought the down load, but only because it was not available hard copy. Remember. You cannot sell it t on after you have read it if you download it

Impossible to follow. Gave this book to a mathematician for their opinion and they told me to get rid of it. The diagrams lend legitimacy to it, but these were obviously taken from someone/someplace that understood it, and only further complicate what should be a simple journey to knowledge.

Boring book, not as interesting as expected. And it's veen proven that golden section is not always a thing, but more oftyt thsn not an approximation

Excellent little book! Bought a used copy, which regrettably wasn’t in great condition, but will now be buying a brand new copy because it’s definitely worth it.