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You are here: Home / Life / The Design of Life and the Golden Ratio

The Design of Life and the Golden Ratio

May 31, 2012 by Gary Meisner 11 Comments

“All life is biology.
All biology is physiology.
All physiology is chemistry.
All chemistry is physics.
All physics is math.”

Dr. Stephen Marquardt.

The design of life is based on a “Golden Ruler™, a ruler composed of golden ratios within golden ratios. It has long been known that the Golden Section, (also Golden Ratio or Divine Proportion), appears in certain proportions of living organisms.  In 1997, I began to wonder how universal this was and how far it could be applied.  I took a golden section of a line not just once, but many times, to form what I like to call the “golden ruler,” shown as follows:

First, take a line and divide it so that the proportion of (B) to (A) is the same as the proportion of (C) to (B):

Sectioning a line to form the Golden Section, Golden Ratio or Divine Proportion based on Phi

Divide the line again and again in the same way:

Successive Golden Sections of a Line to show phi or golden ratio points

Combine the segments to create a measuring stick or “Golden Ruler™:”

The "Golden Ruler" - a Fibonacci Measuring Stick (copyright EOT 1997)

This appears in the proportions of many life forms:

In the dimensions of the human body:

human-body

In the dimensions of the human face:

george-clooney

In the dimensions of spirals in sea shells:

seashell

In the dimensions of the body sections of insects:

ant body showing golden proportions

In the dimensions of fins and other key body features in sea life:

dolphin

The Golden Ruler™ can be expanded to a Golden Grid™

You can take the process another step further by creating a “Golden Grid,” taking it from one dimension to two dimensions:

Golden Grid by Gary Meisner, used to unveil and apply phi, the golden proportion

This approach can be used to explain the physical proportions of many life forms, but the most beautiful application is found in humans:

The Golden Grid and the Human Face showing phi, or golden ratio, proportions throughout its design

It appears that this “golden ruler” is a common, if not universal, metric in the design of living organisms.

Try it on the Do It Yourself page!

Filed Under: Life

Comments

  1. jamsheedh cv says

    July 16, 2012 at 3:17 am

    nice info.not a complete or vast info.its just pointing only.please include more info.

    Reply
    • Gary Meisner says

      July 29, 2012 at 1:10 pm

      Please see the links in the Life category in the right margin of this page for additional information on phi and the golden ratio in life, or go to the Golden Ratio in Life category page.

      Reply
  2. Angry Hari says

    November 3, 2012 at 9:06 am

    thanx for the amazing info. i have already read about it in The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Could you please include more geometrical charts from which we can derive phi?

    Reply
    • Gary Meisner says

      November 4, 2012 at 10:03 pm

      The Geometry page is a great place to start for geometric constructions of phi.

      Reply
    • dacey even says

      May 5, 2015 at 7:57 am

      Dan Browns father, Richard G. Brown, is a mathematician (or as my son calls it, a mathemagician) who’s life was spent teaching math and writing textbooks.
      it isn’t an accident that math takes such a prominent role in all of Dan Brown’s books:)

      Reply
      • Pat says

        September 10, 2023 at 11:59 am

        There is always room for truths to be abused.

        Reply
  3. Gayatri says

    July 7, 2013 at 8:38 am

    Could you provide a printable golden ratio grid like the one in the image above along with the one already in the DIY page?

    Reply
  4. Prof. Plammoottil Cherian says

    August 7, 2013 at 5:17 am

    This is an excellent description of the divine design and I congratulate you for the explanation and the many drawings to explain the human body, the spirals of shell of a snail or the body of an insect. Wonderfully and beautifully explained. Prof. Plammoottil Cherian, M.Sc., Ph. D

    Reply
  5. Ian Schoeman says

    February 23, 2014 at 8:56 am

    Absolutely fascinating. Thanks

    Reply
  6. M.koteshwaraRao says

    February 12, 2015 at 12:56 pm

    I read very briefly regarding the golden ratio, The Phi in the book The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown and thrilled to note that he is the first man to measure the human body parts by physically measuring after exhuming the dead bodies. He also mentioned that the sun flower seed formation is following the golden ratio like the conical shell. If somebody throws some more light in this regard in addition to the above illustrations, is highly appreciated.

    Reply
  7. palvi says

    August 2, 2016 at 12:37 am

    I LIKE GOLDEN RATIO

    Reply

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