I like the article and the book it describes. Unfortunately it perpetuates a minor but irritating (and deeply entrenched) confusion about the difference between an exact logarithmic spiral and an approximate logarithmic spiral. ("When you divide a golden rectangle into smaller and smaller squares, and draw quarter-circles in them, you get a logarithmic spiral, a well-known mathematical shape.") This is such a widespread error that even before I went to the web site I glumly thought to myself "I bet this is going to turn out to be yet another example of a popular treatment of the golden mean that draws a curve made of quarter-circles and calls it an exponential spiral." When I discovered that my glum prediction was right, part of me was sad and another part of me felt happy (because my pessimism had been vindicated). Which I suppose means I'm halfway to becoming a curmudgeon. For more golden ratio art, see http://www.bridgesmathart.org/art-exhibits/jmm08/mckenna.html . Jim Propp On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 5:01 AM, Alex Bellos <alexanderbellos@gmail.com>wrote:

some fun (phun?) pictures from a book I was involved with, in which 55 graphic designers were asked to 'communicate' the golden ratio

http://www.theguardian.com/science/alexs-adventures-in-numberland/gallery/20...

background here:

http://www.theguardian.com/science/alexs-adventures-in-numberland/2014/feb/2...

alex

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