In mathematics there’s this ratio called the “golden ratio” and it kind of works like this.

If the lengths of the sides of a rectangle are in the golden ratio, then the rectangle is a “golden rectangle.” It’s possible to divide a golden rectangle into a square and another golden rectangle.

If you draw a curve between the diagonals of all the squares you get what’s called a logarithmic spiral in which you can see “The Eye of God”. Crazy mathematicians.

Not just for mathematicians, artists get in on the act

However, and here’s where it gets really interesting, the golden ratio isn’t just a geometrical fascination. Since the Renaissance, many artists have used these proportions in their work. They believed (and many still do) that the aesthetics of the dimensional relationships were linked to natural dimensions which we see in the world around us.

Golden ratio in nature

You can also see this “logarithmic spiral” in seashells, animal horns and the cochlea of the ear. It’s nature’s design.

From physiology to botany, there’s also a link to how plan cells replicate, a link less tenuous than the others to vitis vinfera.

Divine significance

It doesn’t stop there, divine significance was also attributed to the golden ratio and elaborated on in Luca Pacioli’s work, De Divina Proportione.

Published in 1509, in which he used illustrations from Pacioli’s close friend, Leonardo Da Vinci.

It’s speculated that Da Vinci used the golden ratio in his paintings from the Mona Lisa to the Last Supper where of course Jesus broke the bread and shared the wine.

And that’s why I used it in The Corkscrew website.

How’s that for a bit of a long-winded disclosure that I worked on the site, launched last week?