Author Description

This discussion of natural constants is a most fascinating one. Dr. Oman addresses the origin of things such as pi (the circumference to diameter ratio for a circle), the number e (the basis of natural logarithms and the controlling constant in growth and decay); used in the description of radioactive decay and the growth of yeast just to name two. The color photographs of flowers representing Fibonacci numbers are fascinating as is the discussion of the connection between Fibonacci numbers, Pascal's triangle and the golden ratio. Did you ever think there was a connection between the second and the meter? Well, there is! And what about the relation between factorials (very simple mathematical operations) and constants found in nature? And no discussion of natural constants would be complete without consideration of the inch, the foot and the mile and their relation to simple astronomical observation.