The Beauty of Numbers (Part 2 of 2)
(The Fibonacci Series + Pascal's Triangle)
Monday Talk: 10 February 2025
7 pm (Beirut Time GMT+2)
Speaker: Akram Najjar (English)
Note: You do not have to have attended Part 1 to enjoy Part 2
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The Talk
The world is divided into two types of people:
those who love mathematics and those who were blessed with a terrible math
teacher who alienated them from the beauty of math.
In this two-part talk, there is no need to worry about your competence in math.
We will mostly be concerned with Numbers. What Akram will show is no more
difficult than the 3 languages you most likely learnt or the negotiation of the
Bechara El-Khoury cross as 3 pm.
In Part 1, we will present the Golden Ratio which was known and
used by the Greeks. It consists of a number that turns up everywhere. The
Golden Ratio is 1.618 and is found when you divide a line segment with length C
into A and B such that the ratio of A to B is the same as C to A.
The talk will define the ratio and show how it is found in lines, rectangles,
triangles, , angles, pentagons and in other forms. We will then show how it was
used in art, architecture, music and nature while at the same time warning
about its presence in numerological quacks.
In Part 2, we will start with the Fibonacci Series which has a
life of its own, as intriguing and beautiful as that of the Golden Ratio.
It consists of a series of numbers (starting with 0 and 1) and where each
element is the sum of the previous two.
More importantly, there is an intense computational relationship between the series
and both Golden Ratio and Pascal’s Triangle. This increases the beauty of the
three processes. increases their beauty. Examples will also be shown from art,
architecture, music and nature.
This is followed by Pascal’s Triangle which is numerically easy to
prepare. The talk will show more than 12 marvelous properties of these numbers
including the triangle’s relationship with
A graduate of AUB in Physics and Mathematics (1966). By 1969, he completed a degree in Electronic Engineering in University of Hertfordshire, UK. His professional life was spent in Information Technology and organizational management. He spent a lot of time on reengineering business and public sector processes.
When Akram was 11, he had a problem with his knee which necessitated his staying in bed for 6 months. To keep him busy, his mother moved their record player to his room and that is when he fell in love with classical music. Akram never studied music, academically. However, it interested him so much that he took an analytic view of classical music always insisting that works must be understood to be really appreciated.
Later on, his love for mathematics led him to read Martin Gardner's column in Scientific American which opened up a vast world of puzzles and beautiful mathematical topics.