The glorious golden ratio

This book adds to a growing number of titles featuring a single number with mathematical significance. Why mathematicians find particular numbers important is part of the charm of such books, and this is no exception. The golden ratio, about 1.618, is made when the ratio between a long and a short length is equal to the ratio between the long plus the short to the long. The appearance of this ratio in architecture, art, and even the plant kingdom leads to many surprising connections between mathematical phenomena and the natural world. Posamentier (Mercy College) and Lehmann (Humboldt Univ. of Berlin, Germany) begin with 16 constructions of the golden ratio. The heart of the book is the authors' discussion of continued fractions from which connections to the Fibonacci numbers and numerical values are derived. Beautiful geometric constructions abound, making browsing the book a pleasure. Valuable for all mathematics collections. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. J. McCleary Vassar College