The magic of Fibonacci numbers | Arthur Benjamin | TED

Math is logical, functional and just ... awesome. Mathemagician Arthur Benjamin explores hidden properties of that weird and wonderful set of numbers, the Fibonacci series. (And reminds you that mathematics can be inspiring, too!)

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[gerrychan]

i hope math teachers will always tell their students the "why" rather than letting the students to memorise things. I wish i grew up with this videos on youtube.

[Boss-ecif]

mathematics is not just solving for x, its also figuring out y. lol. good one!

[JonPeacock]

This guy is like the Bob Ross of Math, so full of joy for what he does

[heyjayrajput]

He enjoyed himself while explaining this...
Amazing person

[DROOKiEZ]

Man I swear Arthur Benjamin is just a bundle of joyfulness and maths, what a guy

[wmobberley]

This is one example of a Ted Talk which just stops. It should have gone on for at least another hour!

[JuliusLeal]

This makes sense to me! I remember back in high school I'm always wondering the "why's" for the formula. I mean, math teachers force us to memorize the formula but doesn't explain to us why it was formed, what significance does it has, on what real life scenario we can apply it to.

[treefrogjohnson]

I am not the biggest fan of math, mostly because my brain just cant comprehend it, but i couldn't stop smiling throughout this video. I knew maths could be beautiful, but it's so rare i can comprehend its beauty.

[t.n.]

"Mathematics is the language of the universe." - Galileo

[openureyesthetruth]

I wish I had this guy as my math teacher. He actually makes it enjoyable and interesting. :)

[michaelpearson]

People don't realize that we, as students must "Learn how to Learn" first!

[wildchild]

His excitement is so contagious!!! It's amazing...

[xyinterrupted]

I have total respect for people who enjoy, understand and just get numbers and how they work. If only I was one of them...perhaps in another life I'll be able to get it :(

[RahulSharma-xbob]

In the introduction to his book, Fibonacci (c. 13th century CE) makes the following revelations

1) "I am the son of an official working in Bugia, Algeria".

2) There was a colony of Indian Merchants in that city.

3) "It was there that I was introduced to Indian Mathematics".

Fibonacci further says-

" I loved Indian Mathematics to such an extent above all others that I completely devoted myself to it"

"I was also introduced to Greek, Arabic & Egyptian Math"

"But I found ALL of them, EVEN Pythagoras, to be erroneous compared to Indian Mathematics"

Fibonacci further says:

"For this reason, basing my book COMPLETELY on Indian methods and applying myself with greatest attention to it, but not without adding something of my own thought, I forced myself to compose this book.

I demonstrated everything with proof"

Finally, Fibonacci says:

" In my book, I have published the doctrine of Mathematics completely according to the Method of Indians.

I have COMPLETELY adopted the (Mathematical) Method of Indians because it is the MOST effective"

Thus, in his book, Fibonacci does NOT refer to #Fibonacci Series as "Fibonacci Series"

Rather, he simply calls it "Indian Series".

Unlike many other Europeans, Fibonacci was NOT a plagiarist.

He clearly mentioned his source and acknowledged his credit to ancient Indians.

Fibonacci's introduction makes it clear that he considered himself "Indian Mathematician" insomuch as he adhered to Indian Mathematical Methodology and contributed to it.

The real name of the so called "Fibonacci Series" is "Indian Series".

This comes from the horse's mouth !

So far as the so called "Fibonacci Series" is concerned, Fibonacci was only TRANSLATING the Sutras of Pingala (c.3rd century CE) and his commentator Virahanka who derived "Fibonacci Series" several hundreds of years before Fibonacci was even born .

I was very shocked reading Fibonacci's introduction. Why are these facts kept concealed?

A more important question. Why should it be called 'Fibonacci series' when Fibonacci himself does not claim to have discovered it and simply acknowledges Indian Mathematics as his source?

The precepts of Pythagoras and Euclid were forgotten in early middle ages and revived only later.

Yet, the credit always goes to Pythagoras and Euclid. Never to the later day Mathematicians who revived their works. Why is Pingala never extended the same courtesy?

I wonder why!

Fibonacci was NOT a European Mathematician, except by flesh and blood.

He explicitly rejected the European methodology of Mathematics. He denounced even the path of Pythagoras as "erroneous".

He followed footsteps of exemplary Vaidika Mathematicians like Pingala and Virahanka

Fibonacci does not describe his book as "European Mathematics".

He explicitly describes his book as " treatise on Indian Mathematical methods".

As such, it is hard to even consider him a "European Mathematician". He followed the footsteps of Vaidika Sanskritic Mathematicians

Reference and the source
i have used :
English translation of introduction to Fibonacci's book "Liber Abaci". Published in the scholarly journal Reti Medievali Rivista by Giuseppe Germano (2013)

[ronneyrendon]

Why on earth is this only 6.25 min?! I was really getting into it then it ended! Aren’t ted talks usually 15 min?! So sad over here.

[derekdu]

It's not the fact that teachers can't make math exciting. It's just that math teachers aren't trained to think like mathematicians. Even with a math degree, I can honestly say that I did not realize why adding the squares of Fibonacci numbers resulted in 8x13. It is a beautiful connection but it is a very obscure one that only classically trained mathematicians can see. You can't expect a regular math teacher to generate this kind of material for students because it takes years of mathematical dedication to get to that level. 

[sergioviana]

at 3:20 he missed a pattern that arises too: 6+15 = 21; 15+40 = 55; 40+104 = 144; all these are fibonacci numbers separated by 2 distances on the series: 21, 34, 55, 89, 144...

[blivvy]

We need more teachers with the passion of this man!

[kptejasraobczgt]

Fibonacci was also humble to acknowledge that most important concepts in his Liber Abaci were those which were followed by Indians since ages before him. He thus called it 'Modus Indorum'. Also, the concept of Fibonacci numbers itself is an application of Meru Prastara(now know by many as Pascal's triangle), which was given by Pingalacharya of India (dated before 200BC). So, it is essentially an Indian knowledge which was introduced to Europe by Fibonacci. Love for math, India and Fibonacci..

Brilliant talk!!!
And Arthur is so true. Knowing math it is so easy to forget how to get across that "why?" to our listeners (if we have any left).