2008 Woodie Awards
Math students study sequence from "The DaVinci Code" novel
By Sarah Poulton
Rocket Assistant Ad Manager
Issue date: 3/10/06 Section: News
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Associate professor of mathematics Robert Vallin said the competition was held to show students that math isn't always dull and boring.
Vallin said students studied the Fibonacci Sequence and the Golden Ratio to answer a series of trivia questions in the days leading to Fibonacci Day.
He said the Fibonacci Sequence is well known in math, easy to understand and prevalent in pop-culture, so everyone could be involved.
According to a Feb. 28 press release, Leonardo of Pisa, known as Fibonacci, developed a story problem dealing with rabbits to illustrate the sums: "Beginning with a single pair of rabbits, if every month each productive pair bears a new pair, which becomes productive when they are one month old, how many rabbits will there be after n (variable) months?"
Vallin said Dan Brown's book, "The DaVinci Code" was based on the Fibonacci Sequence and the Golden Ratio.
The Golden Ratio is defined as being the most visibly pleasing ratio one can devise, he said. Some examples include the Parthenon, Michaelangelo's David and various plants and flowers.
Junior mathematics major Lee White won the contest. White wasn't sure if he was going to have time to participate in the event, but the prize was worth it.
"I am participating because I want to pie Dr. Vallin," White said.
Junior mathematics major Stacey N. Reynolds did a presentation to introduce the Fibonacci Sequence and the Golden Ratio, then show a correlation between the two. She illustrated how Fibonacci Numbers and the Golden Ratio are in architecture, music, nature and the human body.
Reynolds tried to give the audience an understanding of the Fibonacci Sequence and spark their interest in fun math facts. Reynolds said the main goal was to show the audience something cool and reinforce the fact that math isn't always complicated and frustrating.
