Mother Nature knows her math. The seeds of plants with spiral patterns form interlocking spirals in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions. The number of clockwise spirals differs from the number of counterclockwise spirals.
These numbers have a remarkable consistency. They are almost always two consecutive Fibonacci numbers, which are another one of nature's mathematical favorites. The Fibonacci numbers form the sequence 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 . . . , in which each number is the sum of the previous two.
Flowers, cones, and cacti have other mathematical wonders that scientists are trying to understand and explain. Link -via Metafilter
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I was in Paris in October with my folks. We saw this strange and beautiful vegetable at a farmer's market on the street:
Strange Vegetable Pic
What sort of mathematics are behind something like that?
P.S. I think it was some sort of cauliflower.