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The seeds in a sunflower exhibit a golden spiral, which is tied to the Fibonacci sequence.

(Image credit: belterz/Getty Images)

The Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers in which each number is the sum of the two that precede it. Starting at 0 and 1, the first 10 numbers of the sequence look like this: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, and so on forever. The Fibonacci sequence can be described using a mathematical equation: X_n+2 = X_n+1 + X_n. People claim there are many special properties about the numerical sequence, such as the fact that it is “nature’s secret code” for building perfect structures, like the Great Pyramid at Giza or the iconic seashell that likely graced the cover of your school mathematics textbook. But much of that is incorrect and the true history of the series is a bit more down-to-earth. The first thing to know is that the sequence is not originally Fibonacci’s, who in fact never went by that name. The Italian mathematician who we call Leonardo Fibonacci was born around 1170, and originally known as Leonardo of Pisa, said Keith Devlin, a mathematician at Stanford University. (...)

“Liber Abaci” first introduced the sequence to the Western world. But after a few scant paragraphs on breeding rabbits, Leonardo of Pisa never mentioned the sequence again. In fact, it was mostly forgotten until the 19th century, when mathematicians worked out more about the sequence’s mathematical properties. In 1877, French mathematician Édouard Lucas officially named the rabbit problem “the Fibonacci sequence”, Devlin said. Other than being a neat teaching tool, the Fibonacci sequence shows up in a few places in nature. However, it’s not some secret code that governs the architecture of the universe, Devlin said.

It’s true that the Fibonacci sequence is tightly connected to what’s now known as the golden ratio, phi, an irrational number that has a great deal of its own dubious lore. The ratio of successive numbers in the Fibonacci sequence gets ever closer to the golden ratio, which is 1.6180339887498948482. The golden ratio manages to capture some types of plant growth, Devlin said. For instance, the spiral arrangement of leaves or petals on some plants follows the golden ratio. Pinecones exhibit a golden spiral, as do the seeds in a sunflower, according to "Phyllotaxis: A Systemic Study in Plant Morphogenesis"(Cambridge University Press, 1994). But there are just as many plants that do not follow this rule.

Adaptado de: What “is the Fibonacci sequence”?, Deblin said | Live Science.