If you find your horizons could be a tad broader, if you enjoy tackling common knowledge and are ready to find new and exciting ways to look at art, nature, philosophy and even everyday life; here is the book for you. Take a breath and start by rephrasing John 1:1 with ‘In the beginning was the number’ and you will be ready to ride the universe. Phrases like ‘beauty and order’ or ‘aesthetic perception and rationality’ will take on a new meaning as you ride along. Your super travel guide will be The Golden Ratio, the un-put-downable book by Mario Livio.
The doors of a surprising new realm will open wide thanks to phi or 1.6180339887_, also dubbed the Golden Ratio or ‘Divine proportion.’ Phi explains the harmonious geometrical characteristics in everything from pentagrams to the petals of a sunflower. The Parthenon and Mona Lisa are indebted to this old Euclidian number as well.
If you already had The Da Vinci Code in your suitcase, you might be interested to know that Dan Brown suggested that his ideal book club would be reading Livio’s book: ‘To imply that a book club could get excited talking about ‘a number’ probably sounds far-fetched, but this book ties together themes of art history, nature, mathematics, philosophy, and religion in an accessible and eye-opening way. It’s sure to spark great discussions,” Brown says.
To know more about Mario Livio, a Senior Astrophysicist at the Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute, and former head of the Institute’s Science Division, visit www.mariolivio.com. Livio’s last book, The Equation that Couldn’t Be Solved shows how symmetry permeates everything from perception and mate selection to art, music, and theories of the universe.
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