What are the Fibonacci numbers nature loves?
Look closely at a sunflower's face. All those tiny seeds spiral outward from the center in two directions at once — some curving left, some curving right. Count the spirals. You'll find 55 going one way and 89 going the other. Those aren't random numbers. They're part of a secret pattern that shows up everywhere in nature, from pinecones to pineapples to the chambers inside a nautilus shell.
The pattern starts simple. Take the number 1. Add it to the number before it — well, there isn't one yet, so let's say 0. That gives you 1. Now add 1 and 1. You get 2. Add 1 and 2. You get 3. Add 2 and 3. You get 5. Each new number is just the sum of the two before it. Keep going and you get: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89... A mathematician named Fibonacci wrote these down 800 years ago, and now they're named after him.
