10 things you never knew about FIBONACCI

Fibonacci was the name given to Leonardo Pisano, born in 1175

YESTERDAY was celebrated by mathematicians and number enthusiasts as Fibonacci Day. Read on to see why:

 

1. The Fibonacci sequence, named after a medieval Italian mathematician, begins 1,1,2,3,5,8? with each number equal to the sum of the previous two.

2. Fibonacci was the name given to Leonardo Pisano who was born in 1175 and died around 1250.

3. The name came from a misreading of "filius Bonacci" (son of Bonaccio) on a manuscript.

4. Now best known for his sequence, Fibonacci's real claim to fame is the major part he played in introducing the numbers we now use to replace Roman numerals.

5. He did so in his Liber Abaci (Book Of Calculation) in 1202.

6. He introduced the Fibonacci sequence in a discussion of a problem about breeding rabbits

 

Fibonacci introduced the Fibonacci sequence in a discussion of a problem about breeding rabbits

7. Fibonacci numbers play a part in describing many natural processes, particularly in the field of botany.

8. The number of petals on a daisy is always a Fibonacci number, with 21, 34 or 55 most common.

9. A game for two called Fibonacci, played on a hexagonal board, was invented by Thomas Naylor in 1990.

10. The last year that was a Fibonacci number was 1597. The next one will be 2584.