The Golden Mean

The Golden Mean By Susan Convery Foltz Broward College EPI 003 Technology February 8, 2009

The Golden Mean
The Golden Mean is the divine proportion, or golden section, represented by the Greek letter phi Φ. It is one of those mysterious natural numbers like pi π that seems to arise out of the basic structure of the universe.
Phi appears clearly and regularly in the realm of things that grow and unfold in steps, especially living things, but also in art and architecture.

How to Calculate the Golden Mean:
The Golden Mean is the ratio most pleasing to the eye.
The ratio is the same as the ratio of the number 1 to Phi Φ (1.6180339887)
A Golden Rectangle

Fibonacci Numbers and the Golden Mean
The 11th century Mathematician, Leonardo of Pisa, derived a formula for the same relationship commonly found in nature. All Fibonacci Series begin with 0, 1 and every number thereafter is the sum of the two previous numbers. 0,1,1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34….
As a Fibonacci rectangle grows larger it resembles the perfect proportions of the Golden Mean
A Fibonacci Sequence A Golden Sequence

To Create a Golden Spiral
We now draw a quarter circle on each square and bring all the squares back to where they were in the original rectangle. There then emerges a winding (logarithmic) spiral. By spinning the pinwheel in clockwise or counterclockwise direction, the spiral pattern implodes into the pole or expands outwardly.

Examples of Golden Spirals found in nature

The Golden Mean in Art
When a building or artwork is designed to incorporate phi Φ it has the purest possible proportions and is the most pleasing to the eye.
Since painting and photography are most often produced on a rectangular field we can use this formula to create a Golden Rectangle and find the most harmonious location for our center of interest.

The Golden Mean in Music and Architecture
The early Greeks used these formulas to produce the Parthenon
Mozart’s sonata’s seem to divide into parts at the golden section of the total time of the work.
In Beethoven’s 5th symphony the opening motto is repeated at exactly the golden section of the work.

Famous Artists and the Golden Mean
Leonardo Da Vinci was a great Italian Renaissance painter, as well as a scientist and inventor, who lived in 15th century. In his art, Da Vinci carefully examined the proportions of the human body and found many occurrences of the golden ratio and golden rectangles.
Follow this link for more on the Mona Lisa http:// britton.disted.camosun.bc.ca/monalisa.swf

More Artists who used the Golden Mean Georges Seurat Henri Cartier-Bresson Piet Mondrian

Your Assignment:
Find 2 examples of artwork that is based on the Golden Mean
Find 2 examples in a magazine of advertising which uses the Golden Mean
Find 2 examples in nature of the Golden Mean
Create a work of art based on the Golden Mean.
References:
http://www.bgpu.ru/intel/Material/mc_04/master/shelli/photojournalism/Photographs%20before/student_samples/student_presentation/Golden_Mean.ppt
http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/GoldenSection.htm
http://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/symbolism/golden_ratio/index.htm
http://techcenter.davidson.k12.nc.us/ruth/math/mathconnect2.ppt
http://britton.disted.camosun.bc.ca/monalisa.swf
http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/high/Grace-golden.htm
http://community.middlebury.edu/~harris/Humanities/TheGoldenMean.html

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The Golden Mean

by Susan Convery Foltz on May 16, 2009

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The Golden Mean — Presentation Transcript