The Maths of Proportion in Art, Design and Nature

From the Ancient Greeks onwards, proportion and mathematics has been central to our ideas of form and beauty.
This lecture looks at the famous golden ratio, from Greek temples to spiral seashells, discussing where it appears in nature (and why), and how people have tried to pinpoint the 'perfect' proportions of the human body and face. It will also look at why A4 paper is the shape it is and what cookbooks have to do with the Rhind Papyrus.
A lecture by Sarah Hart
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
www.gresham.ac...
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[@nunyabeeswax7111]

thank you for that lovely presentation! her enthusiasm is really contagious :)

[@flyagaric23]

Both the content and the presentation dazzle. Thanks for sharing.

[@TillerSeeker]

Systematic proportionality of one sort or another in the orchestration of both natural and human forms is clearly one of the underlying keys to beauty!

[@johnkellett7797]

The problem with the ‘golden section’ for me as an architect is that it and the Fibonacci Sequence appear to only relate to 2 dimensions. Hence my ‘issue’ with Le Corbusier at University! A Dutch monk and architect, Don Hans Van Der Laan, worked using the ratio, the plastic Number, derived from (n-3)+(n-2)=n:
1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 16, 21, 28, etc which does actually give much more pleasant proportions in 3D as you walk around and experience spaces. Coincidence?

[@barrycrump6189]

Fascinating. Thank you.

[@casteretpollux]

Please would Gresham provide us with a short bio. for each speaker. It's a basic, isn't it?

[@GreshamCollege]

Hi Katharine. You can find an extensive bio for all of our speakers on our website: www.gresham.ac.uk
Sarah Hart's bio can be found here: www.gresham.ac.uk/professors-and-speakers/professor-sarah-hart/
Thank you

[@fliprim]

Diabolical!
A0 is 1 square metre! Why does no one say this?
Really fun!

[@YouMeverse]

she is nervous.