Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Fibonacci gauge

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I admit to recognizing the name Fibonacci, but was unfamiliar with his eponymous gauge, which is funny, because if you do crosswords long enough you learn fun words like eponymous, yet somehow let Fibonacci gauge slip through the cracks.

Ian W. made one. Its beautiful and here it is:


No doubt a quick trip over to Wikipedia would clear this all up. Dear God, its math:



But wait, suddenly it all became clear. I remember learning about this from the greatest math video every made: Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land, which taught me more about math than any math teacher. It is a must-see video that thoroughly explains the deal with Fibonacci and the Golden Ratio. The Golden Ratio is an ancient formula used to determine and describe aesthetically pleasing proportions in everything from nature to art. Art? Oh yeah, like woodworking!



Its a completely mind-blowing and fascinating subject. So much so, that I am thinking about making a Fibonacci Gauge this weekend. It has all sorts of uses in the real world. Say you want to make a jewelry box. You can use the gauge to lay out the dimensions in a manner that will be the most pleasing to our sensibilities. Something about the Golden Ratio is hard-wired in our brains.

Be sure and check out Ians blog, and Ian: thanks for sending this over.

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