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