![]() ![]() To say he was enthusiastic is an understatement he would spend much of his life popularizing the Hindu-Arabic system, starting with Liber Abaci. The boy quickly grasped how much more efficient this method was than the clunky, unwieldy Roman numerals used in Europe. There, Arabian tutors introduced the young Leonardo to the Hindu-Arabic numeral system. It was Leonardo Bonacci who introduced the European world to the Hindu-Arabic number system-the same one we use today.Īs a boy, Leonardo lived for a while with his father, a customs official, in Béjaïa, Algeria. So why do I say the Fibonacci sequence is his second most important contribution to mathematics? Because this is what Liber Abaci is really about: Harrisburg STEM students win national Cal Ripken STEM contest for COVID-blocking curtain The sequence gets applied to many aspects of science, engineering, software design, and even economics. Well, it turns out the Fibonacci series shows up in all sorts of places, from plant seed pods to sea shells to spiral galaxies. ![]() Simple, yes, but obviously a mathematical curiosity of no practical value, right? Get daily news, weather, breaking news, and alerts straight to your inbox! Sign up for the abc27 newsletters here Start with any two numbers, add them together, then add the result to the second number, and repeat like so:Ġ+1=1, 1+1=2, 2+1=3, 3+2=5, 5+3=8, 8+5=13, 13+8=21, and on and on. Known to Hindu mathematicians centuries before Fibonacci introduced it to Europe, it’s a simple idea, involving nothing more complicated than basic addition. Let’s start with the thing he’s best known for, the Fibonacci sequence. This striking image is one of many examples of telescope teamwork - astronomers frequently combine data from ground-based and space-based telescopes to learn more about the Universe. ![]() This particular astronomical image incorporates data from not only Hubble, but also the FORS camera at the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, together revealing M61 in unprecedented detail. M61 appears almost face-on, making it a popular subject for astronomical images, even though the galaxy lies more than 52 million light-years from Earth. As well as widespread pockets of star formation, M61 hosts a supermassive black hole more than 5 million times as massive as the Sun. Though the gleaming spiral of this galaxy makes for a spectacular sight, one of the most interesting features of M61 lurks unseen at the centre of this image. Tell-tale signs of recent star formation, these glowing regions lead to M61’s classification as a starburst galaxy. As well as the usual bright bands of stars, the spiral arms of M61 are studded with ruby-red patches of light. The luminous heart of the galaxy M61 dominates this image, framed by its winding spiral arms threaded with dark tendrils of dust. ![]()
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