Fibonacci

D.C. Nobes

Artwork part of ‘Structure’ (Issue 14)

The Artist

D.C. Nobes is a physicist, a poet, and a photographer who, aside from 2 years on Vancouver Island, spent his first 39 years in or near Toronto, Canada, then 23 years based in Christchurch, New Zealand, 4 years in China, and has retired to Bali. He used to enjoy winter but admits that he doesn’t miss the snow or the cold. He thinks almost all poetry is meant to be read aloud. His poems and photographic art have been widely published.


The Science

Structures are everywhere in the Universe, though those structures may often not be obvious. The branching of mountain beech trees in the Lewis Pass of New Zealand (upper right) and of tree roots in Macau (lower right) reflect the fractal character of Nature. That character is echoed in renormalization group theory in solid state physics: the microscopic is reflected in the macroscopic and vice versa. The fern frond unfolding (lower left) and the petals spiralling on a bloom on the West Coast of New Zealand (upper left) replicate the Fibonacci sequence – 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, … – which structure is used in the accompanying embedded poem that in turn highlights the universality of these structural elements.

The mountain beech trees (upper right) branch out in what looks like a complex set, but such structures can be described using fractals. The Macau tree roots (lower right) criss-cross in a similar way. The unfurling fern frond (lower left) and the West Coast bloom (upper left) reflect the unfolding of a Fibonacci sequence which influences a range of structures from nautilus shells to the unfolding of our fingers. The poem embedded ties these elements together by noting their connections and universality.


Fibonacci

We peer deeper.

We look farther.

The more we stare

the more things seem similar.

Nature builds on itself

using and reusing

familiar features.

Small structures

reflect larger structures

and the larger structures

mirror the microscopic,

scaled, rescaled, renormalized.

Zoom out

and it appears familiar.

Zoom in

and we see strands

spirals

whirls

replicated

repeated.

Look deeper

and you see the world

in a grain of sand.

Look outward

and you see the universe

in her eyes.

Look inward

and you find peace

in the silence of the forest

or the music of her laughter.

Look and you can see,

Listen and you can hear,

Touch and you can feel it.


Copyright statement. This work is published under the CC BY-NC-SA license

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