The Straight Dope 06/18/2004

The Straight Dope -- By Cecil Adams
http://www.straightdope.com

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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 06/18/2004

Dear Cecil:

I just finished Dan Brown's best-seller The Da Vinci Code, about a
thousand-year-old conspiracy involving the Catholic church. While the
modern murder mystery part of the book is obviously fictional, you're
encouraged to believe that the historical background is authentic. As a
Straight Dope reader I know otherwise, so I'm not going to ask about
hanky-panky between Jesus and Mary Magdalene (unlikely), the Holy Grail
(a literary invention), or the Priory of Sion (too much like the
Illuminati). What intrigued me was phi, also known as the Divine
Proportion, a mystical ratio the book claims shows up everywhere in
nature and art. I remember enough about the golden section and Fibonacci
numbers, which also figure in the book and are related to phi somehow,
to know that some of this is legit. But phi itself is new to me. What's
the straight dope on this magic number? --Ryan Joseph, Chicago

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Cecil replies:

Brown's exegesis of phi--for that matter, his whole book--is so
cartoonish that you're inclined to dismiss it out of hand. (To cite one
egregious example of his imprecision, he continually refers to the
painter of the Mona Lisa as "da Vinci." As anyone with a semester of art
history knows, the man's name was Leonardo; da Vinci merely refers to
his birthplace.) Phi is a cool concept, though, and Lord knows I don't
get many chances to expound on higher mathematics and dump on a fellow
scribbler at the same time. So what I'll do here is go through Brown's
often loopy assertions and follow each with the facts.

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040618.html

STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

What is the deal with Fibonacci numbers? What are they? Why are they
important? --Jeremy Frank, Port Washington

Guest contributor Mathochist replies:

Cecil this week is dealing with what Fibonacci numbers (and the related
number phi) aren't. I'll try to give you some indication what they are. 

One of the occasional gags in old cartoons was a reference to
"multiplying like bunnies," followed by a cut to a pair of bunnies
reciting their times tables. If Chuck Jones had taken more math, they
might be reading off the Fibonacci sequence instead. 

For more, see: 
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mfibonacci.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 04/02/1982

Dear Cecil: 

Here is a question that will satisfy the curiosity of anyone who has
ever read an Agatha Christie novel or seen one of her books as a movie
or play. What is known about her mysterious "disappearance"? (1) When
did she disappear? (2) Where was she (at home, on a trip, etc.)? (3) Was
foul play suspected? (4) How old was she? (5) Could she have engineered
her own disappearance to be dramatic in keeping with her novels? (6) Is
she now presumed dead? --Linda D., Baltimore

Dear Linda:

Inasmuch as Agatha Christie was buried in an English churchyard in 1976,
I think it's pretty safe to assume she's dead. However, you never know
with these mystery writers. In any event, the famous "disappearance" you
refer to occurred some 50 years earlier, and if she was senile at the
time it is surely the most protracted case of that disorder in the
history of medicine. 

Mrs. Christie disappeared on the evening of Friday, December 3, 1926,
from her home near a small town in Berkshire, England. . .

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_390.html

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