Fibonacci Sequence Essay

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Introduction: The mathematician known as Fibonacci had a massive influence of the western world of mathematics. His most well known work is the Fibonacci sequence. “The numbers from this sequence are manifested throughout nature in the forms and designs of many plants and animals and have also been reproduced in various manners in art, architecture, and music” (Grigas, 2013). As the world was coming out of the dark ages and into the flurry of the renaissance, there were many people who had an effect of the new way of life (Grigas, 2013). One of these individuals was Leonardo of Pisa. Credit for the Fibonacci numbers development’s is usually given to Leonardo of Pisa, known as Fibonacci. However, he may not be the original creator of the sequence. There are references to a similar sequence in Sanskrit from around the 5th century B.C. But, it was Leonardo of Pisa (Fibonacci ) who introduced the concept into Western civilization so he is the one who usually receives credit. History of Leonardo: Very little is actually known about the life of Leonardo of Pisa. He was born sometime around 1170 in Pisa, Italy (Leonardo Pisano). At that time Pisa was a bustling marketplace. Leonardo’s father was a very successful merchant. His father was appointed to lead a customs house in did Bugia, North Africa (Leonardo Pisano). Leonardo was brought there by his father in his teens to learn the family business. There was a large Arab presence in Bugia at that time and Leonardo would have been exposed to all kinds of new ideas (Grigas, 2013). It was there that Leonardo was introduced to the Hindu numerals 1-9 and the Arab numeral 0 (Grigas, 2013). At that time Europe was still using Roman numerals; Leonardo realized that these were much more efficient than the old way of doing things (Grigas, 2013). Many calculations with the old system had to be done with an abacus but the new

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