“Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and leading to the most outre results, it would make all fiction with its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and unprofitable.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
A 2017 photograph from the streets of Tbilisi, Georgia.
Well, there’s all probability that you’ve stumbled across a cliche dandelion shot like this. This one is that I took from a journey through some farms in Yerevan, Armenia. I’ve read of thematic contexts wherein Dandelions are often read with transcience and impermanence.
“Dare to imagine. Dare to be.
Books are the seeds. Dreams are the soil.
The fruit of the harvest, a world reborn.”
― Richelle E. Goodrich, Dandelions: The Disappearance of Annabelle Fancher
I happened to recollect an adorable visual sometime from 2015 wherein a dad shows his baby buzz dandelions for the first time and he got excited. Let me tell you, no matter how messed up your day was, this can truly give you some shine and melt your soul!
I’m sort of a detail-obsessed guy and some photographs like this are only for enjoying the randomness and the little details in them. If we look at a leaf branching out, there’re these nuances of art and perfection in them. We see the function designed into them here. It’s not random or accidental, but we see purpose and intention in them. As Ralph Waldo Emerson famously put it, “Every particular in nature, a leaf, a drop, a crystal, a moment of time is related to the whole, and partakes of the perfection of the whole.”
(The photo is captured from a cafe in Istanbul, circa 2014)
This is Ep 2 of our new series – ‘Culinary Experiences’ crafted with an unpresuming intention for journaling some of the best ambrosial culinary experiences, be it the finest cordon bleu delights of a master chef or a cheesy experimental simmer at our little kitchen, we are trying to scribe it here.
Although I had tried a takeaway before, this was my first experience visiting Nthree , a cozy cafe at University city, Sharjah. It’s a Kuwaiti restaurant managed by Chef Khaled Al-Saad.
They mostly serve Arabic food and have some Kuwaiti delicacies such as Al-Majabis, Mmoush, Educators, Mutabeed Zabeedi, and Al-Hamsat in their culinary arsenal, which we didn’t experiment with. We tried chicken machboos which has a slow-cooked chicken with sweet lentils and aromatic rice. We tasted Bechamel as well which is basically cheese with pasta, minced meat, and Béchamel sauce. A béchamel or white sauce is one of the classic French “mother sauces” that form the basis of much French cuisine. It’s used since the seventeenth century in French delicacies.
Before I start, let’s see this beautiful video “Nature by Numbers” by Cristóbal Vila. I first saw this almost 9 years back and it helped discover a lot of amazing knowledge treasures which I didn’t know before. This number is used by architects and designers extensively, but what we are discussing here is something else. It’s about realizing and pondering on how the entire universe is crafted specifically in a specific metric. Have a look at the video and I shall elaborate further with detailed illustrations. I was pretty pumped up when I first came to know about this and would like to take this write up as an opportunity to share this information with you. Probably this would be the first write up for which I spent the longest time preparing content and illustrations for the only reason that I’m super excited to share this all of you. Now, let’s read.
This piece would be an addition to the Ponder Series that we have been writing extensively over the past several months. When we think about the world around us and also when we look within, it might seem usual and ordinary. But ponder series, as you might know, is all about thinking deeply and delving into the details by going beyond the ordinary perceptions. “Golden Ratio” is such a concept that’ll blow our minds off. I first read about this interesting ratio pervading the universe when I was in college. I shall elucidate it here, preferably with some visual illustrations. If you have not heard about this before, I’m sure this will definitely throw you into some wonder. Read it very carefully. It’s exciting information!
Many of us would be familiar with the Fibonacci series of numbers which were discovered by the Italian mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci in 1202 B.C.
It’s a series as below:
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, …
In this series, if you add two numbers in the series, you’ll get the next number in the series. For example, 0+1=1, the third number in the series. And 1+1=2, the fourth number in the series, 1+2=3, the fifth number in the series and so on.
We might have seen this series in our maths classes and wondered what is special about them. They have an amazing property. If we divide any number in this sequence by the number before it, we would get numbers very close to each other. After the 13th number in this series, the ratio is constant and we get 1.618. This is called “Golden Ratio”
Now, this golden ratio number of 1.618 is pervading everywhere. If you didn’t know this before, get prepared to be blown away.
Human Body
Did we ever think that our body measurements were just random? Boy! we are wrong! The proportions and geometrical ratios are carefully crafted in this specific ratio. For a better visual perspective, I’m sharing a few illustrations below so that you can take a look! These values are universally true for every human body. Isn’t that a jaw-dropping realization if you didn’t know this before?
Now, that’s far from over. Let’s go a little deeper. The same ratio is true for the below: – Length of face/width of the face, – Distance between the lips and where the eyebrows meet / length of the nose, – Length of face/distance between the tip of the jaw and where the eyebrows meet, – Length of mouth/width of the nose, – Width of nose/distance between nostrils, – Distance between pupils/distance between eyebrows.
Even the placement of teeth, as well as the ratio of individual teeth sizes, are on this same ratio.
In a research study carried out in 1987, it was discovered that this magic ratio is also in the structure of the lungs as well. The bronchi network in the lung is asymmetric. The windpipe gets divided into the left and the right bronchi networks. The one on the right is short and the one on the left is long. The geometrical proportion of the shorter one to the longer one of this bronchi is 1.618. Isn’t that amazing? Recent studies have shown that the internal structures of the ears are also proportioned in the same ratio. The more we explore and delve in, the more breathtaking it turns out to be.
This number has garnered significant interest in great minds like Pythagaurus, Leonardo Da Vinci and the famous astronomer Kepler. Leonardo Da Vinci has used it in the painting Monalisa.
Golden Ratio in DNA Helix DNA has two grooves in its spiral. Major to minor groove proportion measures as the golden ratio 1.618.
Golden Spiral
In geometry, a golden spiral is a logarithmic spiral whose growth factor is φ, the golden ratio. That is, a golden spiral gets wider (or further from its origin) by a factor of φ for every quarter turn it makes. See the below link for a reference.
Image By Jahobr – CC0, Link
The golden spiral can be found in pinecones, sunflowers, pineapples, and a lot of other plants. Another amazing detail is that the petals of plants commonly grow in Fibonacci numbers.
In sunflower, we can notice two families of spiral patterns: one winding clockwise and the other counterclockwise. The quantity of spirals in each family are always two consecutive Fibonacci numbers. This effect is the result of closely packing points separated by 137.5 degrees in tight spirals. This implies that the a golden-ratio based phyllotaxis allows not only for optimal sun exposure but also for maximal packing in horizontal space. (Reference)
For field daisies, the count of petals is usually either thirteen, twenty-one, or thirty-four petals, all consecutive Fibonacci numbers. Bet you didn’t know about this before! 🙂
And it’s not over yet. We have more!
The golden ratio is even found in the shape of galaxies, hurricanes, and waves.
What I have shown here is only a small portion or subset of how this golden ratio pervades in almost every other stuff we are surrounded with. Leonardi Davinci has used this ratio in some of his greatest paintings. Architects use this ratio in designing structural solutions with better aesthetics. In architecture, they bring balance and height to structures and allow the usage of specific geometries and varying shapes and eventually help build aesthetic structures. They are also extensively used in arts and music as well. The ratio is made use of in the design of several musical instruments and in timing musical compositions (Climax reaching at 61.8% of the song sequence to make it more appealing, for instance). Beethoven’s fifth symphony uses this ratio. The ratio is also used in other fields like facial plastic surgery and cosmetic dentistry. This is really thought-provoking. If we ponder deeply on these realities, we come to the realization that everything around us is formed and ordered in a measure which we even don’t notice. We require the eye of wisdom and insight to contemplate these realities. Don’t let these astonishing marvels around you hide from your thoughts and cogitations when we get engulfed ourselves in the blurred rush of routine life. Uncovering this hidden mathematical miracle around us has a profound impact. Think about it, friends! Let’s widen our horizons and augment our perspectives. Personally, I believe this ratio is sort of like a divine signature. God bless friends!
Now, that’s far from over. Let’s go a little deeper. The same ratio is true for the below:
