Contents

A. Patterns and Numbers in Nature and the World

i. Symmetry
ii. Fibonacci Sequence
iii. Fractals
iv. Spirals
v. Golden Ratio and Golden Rectangle
vi. Golden Angle

B. Applications of Mathematics
i. Organizing patterns and regularities
ii. Predicting behavior of nature and phenomena
iii. Controlling nature and occurrences

PATTERNS AND NUMBERS IN NATURE AND THE WORLD

Two of the most intriguing things we see in nature are patterns and numbers.
These can be observed in things like shapes, actions, colors, words or melody in
songs, lines and curves on buildings, and everywhere around us.
Mathematics is always associated with numbers but patterns are not
immediately linked to math. In practice, mathematics is actually more about patterns
than numbers. A mathematician, Resnik (1999) even defined mathematics as the
“science of patterns”, and also writes, “… in mathematics the primary subject matter
is not the individual mathematical objects but rather the structures in which they are
arranged.”
A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract
ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner.

SYMMETRY
Symmetry is innately observed in things we see around us and comes in
various forms. There is symmetry in nature and in the works of artists, craftspeople,
musicians, choreographers and architects. Symmetries describe patterns that
provide means for us to organize our world conceptually.

Symmetry is a geometrical or other regularity that is possessed by an object and is

characterized by the operations that leave the object invariant.

Symmetrical objects or images exhibit different symmetries. Symmetries can be

described in terms of motions or directions in relation to some points or axes. The
operations involved commonly preserves distances, angles, sizes and shapes. In
general, there are four symmetry operations: translation, reflection, rotation and
glide-reflection. A series of symmetry operations can be applied using function
composition.
Forms of Symmetry:
1. Translation is a symmetry operation which moves everything by a certain
distance in a particular direction.
Translation is seen in nature, in textile prints and other occurrences in our
physical world. Translation is also seen on some patterns used in local woven
textiles like the binakol.

2. Reflection is a symmetry consisting of a mirror line or axis on the plane and maps
points from one side of the line to the other side at the same distance from the axis.
Reflection is also called line symmetry or mirror symmetry.
Bilateral symmetry is the simplest form of reflection involving only one mirror
axis. In nature, butterfly’s wings, tiger’s stripes and the human face exhibit bilateral
symmetries.

3. Rotation is a symmetry fixing one point (the center or rotocenter) and rotates
everything by the same amount (angle) around that point.
An example is a fidget spinner. A fidget spinner is a toy that consists of a ball bearing
in the center of a multi-lobed flat structure made from metal or plastic designed to
spin along its axis with little effort.The flower of Santan (Ixora coccinea) has four or
five petals and exhibits rotational symmetry.
When an image is rotated completely around its center (equivalent to a 360
degree rotation), it may appear in its original form two or more times. The number of
times it appears is called the order of rotation.

4. Glide reflection is a combination of a reflection with a translation along the

direction of the mirror line.
Our footprints left on the sand exhibits glide reflection.

Symmetries in Nature
1. Honeycomb
A honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal prismatic wax cells built by honeybees
in their nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen. The structural
design encloses regions of maximum area but with minimum perimeter.
Recommended video:
Why do bees build hexagonal honeycombs? by BBC
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03zn0bp

2. Phyllotaxis/Phyllotaxy
Leaf arrangements known as phyllotaxis or phyllotaxy come in many forms.
Leaves of plants may have the same arrangement on opposite sides where pairs of
leaves are attached at a node. The arrangement of leaves may also alternate along
the stem.

3. Tiger’s Stripes and Hyena’s Spots

The stripes on the tiger’s skin are patterns that are actually part of the
animal’s skin so it appears below the fur as well. The pattern in the skin of this
animal is important for it hide them and protect them in their natural environment.
 Meanwhile, the base color on the fur of spotted hyenas are irregular pattern of
roundish spots. The spots may be reddish, deep brown or almost blackish and like
the tiger, the spots of the hyena serves to hide them from prey.
Animals’ stripes and spots have various biological significance like mating
purposes, for defense or as camouflage and others, but the process on how the
patterns are formed is not yet fully understood.
Recommended readings:
1) How animals got their spots and stripes – according to maths by Thomas
Woolley
Link: http://theconversation.com/how-animals-got-their-spots-and-stripes-
according-to-maths-85053
2) The chemical basis of morphogenesis by A. M. Turing
Link: http://cba.mit.edu/events/03.11.ASE/docs/Turing.pdf

Patterns in Landscapes and Seascapes

Patterns and land formations result from the earth’s dynamical systems. The
ever changing landscape of our world is mostly affected by natural laws but most
recently, man has caused changes in the landscape for various purposes – good
and bad.
Train of waves is a group of waves of equal or similar wavelengths traveling in
the same direction. These waves can be caused either by the friction between wind
and the surface water or the gravitational pull of the sun and moon on the earth.
A dune is a hill of loose sand formed as a result of the interaction between the
wind or flow of water and soil. Notice how the “lines” are arranged. Transverse
waves on dunes line up in parallel straight rows at right angles to the prevailing wind
direction.
Recommended readings:
1) A mathematical advance in describing waves by Charlotte Hsu
Link: https://phys.org/news/2016-02-mathematical-advance.html
2) Universal nature of the nonlinear stage of modulation instability by Gino
Biondini and Dionyssios Mantzavinos
Link: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1511.00951.pdf
3) Blown by wind: nonlinear dynamics of Aeolian sand ripples by Hezi Yizhaq,
Neil Balmforth and Antonello Provenzale
Link:https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3e3f/397c5b2a697b038fc7b784ef30f414
c126d8.pdf
4) Dynamics of sand ripples and dunes by Hiraku Nishimori
Link: http://www.scipress.org/journals/forma/pdf/30s1/30s10091.pdf
5) Handbook of mathematical geosciences by Springer
Link: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-319-78999-6.pdf