Question

How does Willson, F. (2002). Shapes, Numbers, Patterns, And The Divine Proportion In God's Creation. explain that a Spirals in sunflowers demonstrates the divine proportion?

Explain why Willson said…“The only rational conclusion is that the Creator of the universe is a personal, intelligent Being, who created these things as a visible fingerprint of His invisible, yet personal existence.”

Answer 1

In God's creation, there exists a "Divine Proportion" that is exhibited in a multitude of shapes, numbers, and patterns whose relationship can only be the result of the omnipotent, good, and all-wise God of Scripture. This Divine Proportion—existing in the smallest to the largest parts, in living and also in non-living things—reveals the awesome handiwork of God and His interest in beauty, function, and order.

I will first begin with shapes, then discuss how a numbering pattern and a ratio (the Divine Proportion) are an inherent part of these shapes and patterns and are ubiquitous throughout creation.

Let's begin with a shape with which we are all familiar. It is the spiral commonly seen in shells. By taking a careful look at that spiral (the chambered nautilus is probably the clearest example) you will observe that as it gets larger, it retains its identical form. Since the body of the organism grows in the path of a spiral that is equiangular and logarithmic, its form never changes. The beauty of this form is commonly called the "golden spiral."

This spiral is visible in things as diverse as: hurricanes, spiral seeds, the cochlea of the human ear, ram's horn, sea-horse tail, growing fern leaves, DNA molecule, waves breaking on the beach, tornados, galaxies, the tail of a comet as it winds around the sun, whirlpools, seed patterns of sunflowers, daisies, dandelions, and in the construction of the ears of most mammals.

This spiral follows a precise mathematical pattern. We will first look at this spiral in sunflowers. By looking carefully at a sunflower you will observe two sets of spirals (rows of seeds or florets) spiraling in opposite directions. When these spiral rows are counted in each direction, you will discover that in the overwhelming majority of the cases that their numbers, depending upon the size of the flower, will be of the following ratio:

if small, 34 and 55; if medium 55 and 89; if large 89 and 144

These numbers are part of the Fibonacci numbering sequence, a pattern discovered around A.D. 1200 by Leonardo Pisa (historically known as Fibonacci). Each succeeding number is the sum of the two preceding numbers. The sequence of these numbers is 1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144,233, ad infinitum. This numbering pattern reveals itself in various ways throughout all of nature, as we shall see.

When the smaller number of this pattern is divided into the larger number adjacent to it, the ratio will be approximately 1.618; if the larger one adjacent to it divides the smaller number, the ratio is very close to 0.618. This ratio is the most efficient of similar series of numbers.