The Golden Section and beauty in nature: The perfection of symmetry and the charm of asymmetry

• Published in: Progress in biophysics and molecular biology Vol. 146; pp. 98 - 103
• Main Authors: Lüttge, Ulrich, Souza, Gustavo M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2019
• Subjects: Beauty; Fibonacci-series; Golden angle; Golden number; Light capture; Mathematics; Nature; Phyllotaxis; Plants - anatomy & histology; Science; Transcendence; Light capture; Golden number; Golden angle; Fibonacci-series; Transcendence; Phyllotaxis
• ISSN: 0079-6107; 1873-1732; 1873-1732
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2018.12.008

It is not unanimous among scientists if there is beauty in science. Some deny it. Mental clarity of conclusions when captured in simple looking equations is mathematical beauty. This we also find in the Euclidian geometry when performing the Golden Section and by deriving the Golden or Devine Number in golden rectangles, spirals and the Golden Angle. The Golden Section is considered as most beautiful and used in architecture and art. It is found everywhere in nature, e.g. in the pentagram of flowers, in the spirals of the shells of snails and Nautilus and even in galaxies of space. The Golden Angle in plants is realized in the phyllotaxis of spirals of leaf rosettes, in fruit stands and in the cones of conifers and cycads. It optimizes packing of modules such as seeds and fruits as well as the capture of light by leaves for photosynthesis and the fitness of productivity. Although we can mathematically deduce it and scientifically explain its role in organization and formation of patterns of structure and function, we cannot explain why we find it beautiful. In a methodological dualism esthetics and beauty are transcendental categories besides science. Or are the pleasant sensations of the Golden Section elicited by different stimuli to which our brain is adapted? Perhaps the Golden Section found everywhere in the entire universe is a link between natural science and the transcendental dimension, while a flower of a rose remains both a complex scientific system and an object of overwhelming beauty.