Livio writes a lively history of the astonishing number Phi. Known as the Golden Ratio, the Golden Section, and the Golden Mean. Phi has had an important part of our long mathemtical history. Livio spends the first part of the book uncovering or unveiling the understanding of Phi through Platonic solids and Pythagorean ideals. Once Phi was uncovered, it began showing up in odd places, particularly the Fibonacci sequence: 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34 etc. If you consider the Fibonacci sequence as ratios of successive fractions, 5/3; 8/5; 13/8; 21/13 etc this number converges towards Phi.

With almost magical properties, Phi has been ascribed or discovered in practically everything. It was believed to be key to the pyramids, the Parthenon, and other buildings. It is supposed to be present in art, music, and sculpture. Livio is not Dan Brown. He's not chasing conspiracies. In fact, he believes that most of these are exercises in number juggling. Livio is a Phi enthusiast and a lover of math and his "surprise" and love for this number carry the book.

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