In 1877, French mathematician Édouard Lucas officially named the rabbit problem “the Fibonacci sequence,” Devlin said.

Fibonacci sequences appear in biological settings, such as branching in trees, arrangement of leaves on a stem, the fruitlets of a pineapple, the flowering of artichoke, an uncurling fern and the arrangement of a pine cone, and the family tree of honeybees.

He noted that, after each monthly generation, the number of pairs of rabbits increased from 1 to 2 to 3 to 5 to 8 to 13, etc, and identified how the sequence progressed by adding the previous two terms (in mathematical terms, Fn = Fn-1 + Fn-2), a sequence which could in theory extend indefinitely.

Fibonacci spirals and Golden spirals appear in nature, but not every spiral in nature is related to Fibonacci numbers or Phi. Most spirals in nature are equiangular spirals, and Fibonacci and Golden spirals are special cases of the broader class of Equiangular spirals.

The Fibonacci sequence was invented by the Italian Leonardo Pisano Bigollo (1180-1250), who is known in mathematical history by several names: Leonardo of Pisa (Pisano means “from Pisa”) and Fibonacci (which means “son of Bonacci”).

The number of petals in a flower consistently follows the Fibonacci sequence. Famous examples include the lily, which has three petals, buttercups, which have five (pictured at left), the chicory’s 21, the daisy’s 34, and so on.

The reason for using the Fibonacci sequence is to reflect the uncertainty in estimating larger items. A high estimate usually means that the story is not well understood in detail or should be broken down into multiple smaller stories.

Fibonacci sequence is found by adding the previous two numbers of the sequence together. The Fibonacci Sequence is found all throughout nature, too. It is a naturally occurring pattern. Here are some examples of Fibonacci in nature…

approach the golden ratio. In fact, the higher the Fibonacci numbers, the closer their relationship is to 1.618. The golden ratio is sometimes called the “divine proportion,” because of its frequency in the natural world. The number of petals on a flower, for instance, will often be a Fibonacci number.

Mathematics reveals hidden patterns that help us understand the world around us. As a science of abstract objects, mathematics relies on logic rather than on observation as its standard of truth, yet employs observation, simulation, and even experimentation as means of discovering truth. …

Mathematics and the environment are directly related. Everything in nature is made within certain mathematical ratios, and these ratios scale no matter what life you are looking at. The Fibonacci sequence and Golden Mean Ratio can be found in everything.