Skip to main content Skip to main navigation
heart-solid My Visit Donate
Home Smithsonian Institution IK development site for ODI
Press Enter to activate a submenu, down arrow to access the items and Escape to close the submenu.
    • Overview
    • Museums and Zoo
    • Entry and Guidelines
    • Museum Maps
    • Dine and Shop
    • Accessibility
    • Visiting with Kids
    • Group Visits
    • Overview
    • Exhibitions
    • Online Events
    • All Events
    • IMAX & Planetarium
    • Overview
    • Topics
    • Collections
    • Research Resources
    • Stories
    • Podcasts
    • Overview
    • For Caregivers
    • For Educators
    • For Students
    • For Academics
    • For Lifelong Learners
    • Overview
    • Become a Member
    • Renew Membership
    • Make a Gift
    • Volunteer
    • Overview
    • Our Organization
    • Our Leadership
    • Reports and Plans
    • Newsdesk
heart-solid My Visit Donate

Pineapple from Birds and nature.

Smithsonian Libraries and Archives

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
No Copyright - United States
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
View manifest View in Mirador Viewer

Object Details

Book Title

Birds and nature.

Caption

Pineapple.

Educational Notes

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34…This may seem like a random string of numbers, but like with this pineapple, there’s more than meets the eye! These numbers are the beginning of a sequence of numbers called the Fibonacci Sequence after Italian mathematician, Leonardo Fibonacci, who described these numbers in his book Liber Abaci in 1202. You might wonder what a bunch of numbers have to do with a pineapple—quite a bit, actually! The pattern of this pineapple is a physical representation of how the Fibonacci Sequence works. Each number in the sequence is determined by the two numbers before it. So, 0+1=1, 1+1=2, 1+2=3, 2+3=5, 3+5=8, 5+8=13, and on and on to numbers that can’t even be counted to! If you were to block out these equations in a grid and draw a spiral starting in the middle and work your way out, you would end up drawing the same spiral found in the formation of this pineapple. This spiral is known as the Golden Spiral and can be found in many other places in nature such as the flowering of an artichoke.

Date

1899

Publication Date

1899

Image ID

SIL-39088009843384_birdsnature531899chic_0023

Catalog ID

422539

Rights

No Copyright - United States

Type

Photographic prints

Publication Place

Chicago (Ill.)

Publisher

 A.W. Mumford

See more items in

See Wonder

Data Source

Smithsonian Libraries

Topic

Math and Measurement
Math
Counting
Number sequence
Liber Abaci
Leonardo Fibonacci
Fibonacci Sequence
Seashell
Golden Spiral
Infinite
Pineapple

Metadata Usage

CC0

Record ID

silgoi_103964
arrow-up Back to top
Home
  • Facebook facebook
  • Instagram instagram
  • LinkedIn linkedin
  • YouTube youtube

  • Contact Us
  • Get Involved
  • Shop Online
  • Job Opportunities
  • Equal Opportunity
  • Inspector General
  • Records Requests
  • Accessibility
  • Host Your Event
  • Press Room
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use