"Phi (pronounced 'fie') is the Greek letter that represents the golden number, which is 1.618034... The reciprocal of this number is 0.618034… or, by rounding down, 0.618, which in month and day notation equates to June 18.
Phi is an irrational number like pi, but its impact goes well beyond pi’s, which essentially delineates the static relationship between the circumference and the diameter of a circle.
Phi, on the other hand, governs patterns of growth and decay, from botany to financial markets; in naturally occurring structures, such as DNA; and in manmade creations in art and architecture, such as the ancient Greek temples. It even identifies where your navel appears in your body (approximately 0.618 of the distance from your feet to the top of your head.).
This ratio has gone by many names, such as the golden ratio, the divine proportion and the golden mean. It wasn't until early in the 20th century that we began using the Greek letter phi to describe it — thanks to American mathematician Mark Barr. He took phi from the initial letter of the name of the Greek sculptor, Phidias, who appears to have used the golden ratio when designing both the Parthenon and its great statue of Athena on the Acropolis in Athens".......Read more
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