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* Daisies can have 34, 55, or 89 petals.

* Each twist of the DNA double helix is 34 angstroms long by 21 angstroms wide.

* The human hand has 5 fingers, with 3 parts and 2 knuckles each.

Common Denominator

What do daisies, DNA, and hands have in common? Answer--the Fibonacci Sequence, which is a series of numbers discovered by Leonardo Fibonacci in 1202. Here's how it works: Start with the numbers 0 and 1. To calculate the next number in the series, add together the two numbers before it. You'll get 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, and so on.

As the numbers in the Fibonacci Sequence get larger, the ratio between consecutive numbers (which is a number in the series divided by the previous number) approaches 1.618, what mathematicians call the Golden Ratio. When the Golden Ratio exists between a rectangle's length and width, that rectangle is called a Golden Rectangle.

Mathematicians discovered Fibonacci numbers and Golden Rectangles throughout nature. For example, most flowers have a Fibonacci number of petals and leaves. Lilies have 3 petals, buttercups have 5, and sunflowers have 34--all Fibonacci numbers. In addition, the human head fits into a Golden Rectangle with the eyes in the center.

Since the Golden Rectangle is a particularly pleasing shape, it's not surprising that artists and musicians want to capture nature's beautiful pattern in their work. For example, Leonardo da Vinci painted the "Mona Lisa" so that her face fits perfectly into a Golden Rectangle. So does her body from the top of her head to her folded arms.

Fibonacci numbers fill pianos, too. Musical scales use 13 keys, 8 of which are white, and 5 black. Black keys are divided into groups of 2 and 3. If you look closely enough, you'll find the Fibonacci Sequence everywhere--in nature, art, music, and Judaism.

Biblical Beauties

If scientists have found the Golden Ratio embedded in the world’s most beautiful creations, then it’s not surprising that the Divine Proportion (as the Golden Ratio is sometimes called) has been found in the Torah, God’s blueprint for creation. For example, God commanded Noah to build the teyvah, ark 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high (Bereishit 6:15). The difference between the Golden Ratio (1.618) and the ratio between the teyvah’s width and its height (1.666) is not visible to the naked eye.

Furthermore, according to God’s command in Shemot 25:10, the ratio between the length and width of the Nora8 (aron, Ark of the Covenant) was also 1.666. Are these findings merely a fascinating coincidence? No. Science teaches us to systematically investigate the underlying harmony in the world, and Judaism teaches us how to praise the Architect of that harmony. “How great are Your works, God; You make them all with wisdom” (Psalms 104:24).