Symmetry 1 Many mathematical principles are based on ideals, and apply to an abstract, perfect world.

This perfect world of mathematics is reflected in the imperfect physical world, such as in the approximate symmetry of a face divided by an axis along the nose. More symmetrical faces are generally regarded as more aesthetically pleasing. 2 Five axes of symmetry are traced on the petals of this flower, from each dark purple line on the petal to an imaginary line bisecting the angle between the opposing purple lines. The lines also trace the shape of a star. Shapes - Perfect 3 Earth is the perfect shape for minimising the pull of gravity on its outer edges - a sphere (although centrifugal force from its spin actually makes it an oblate spheroid, flattened at top and bottom). Geometry is the branch of maths that describes such shapes Shapes - Polyhedra 4 For a beehive, close packing is important to maximise the use of space. Hexagons fit most closely together without any gaps; so hexagonal wax cells are what bees create to store their eggs and larvae. Hexagons are six-sided polygons, closed, 2-dimensional, many-sided figures with straight edges. Shapes - Cones 5 Volcanoes form cones, the steepness and height of which depends on the runniness (viscosity) of the lava. Fast, runny lava forms flatter cones; thick, viscous lava forms steep-sided cones. Cones are 3-dimensional solids whose volume can be calculated by 1/3 x area of base x height. Parallel lines 6 In mathematics, parallel lines stretch to infinity, neither converging nor diverging. These parallel dunes in the Australian desert aren't perfect - the physical world rarely is. Geometry - Human induced 7 People impose their own geometry on the land, dividing a random environment into squares, rectangles and bisected rhomboids, and impinging on the natural diversity of the environment. Pi 8 Any circle, even the disc of the Sun as viewed from Cappadoccia, central Turkey during the 2006 total eclipse, holds that perfect relationship where the circumference divided by the diameter equals pi. First devised (inaccurately) by the Egyptians and Babylonians, the infinite decimal places of pi (approximately 3.1415926...) have been calculated to billions of decimal places.

Fibonacci sequence 9 Rabbits, rabbits, rabbits. Leonardo Fibonacci was a well-travelled Italian who introduced the concept of zero and the Hindu-Arabic numeral system to Europe in 1200AD. He also described the Fibonacci sequence of numbers using an idealised breeding population of rabbits. Each rabbit pair produces another pair every month, taking one month first to mature, and giving the sequence 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,... Each number in the sequence is the sum of the previous two. Fibonacci spiral 10 If you construct a series of squares with lengths equal to the Fibonacci numbers (1,1,2,3,5, etc) and trace a line through the diagonals of each square, it forms a Fibonacci spiral. Many examples of the Fibonacci spiral can be seen in nature, including in the chambers of a nautilus shell. Golden ratio (phi) 11 The ratio of consecutive numbers in the Fibonacci sequence approaches a number known as the golden ratio, or phi (=1.618033989...). The aesthetically appealing ratio is found in much human architecture and plant life. A Golden Spiral formed in a manner similar to the Fibonacci spiral can be found by tracing the seeds of a sunflower from the centre outwards Geometric sequence 12 Bacteria such as Shewanella oneidensis multiply by doubling their population in size after as little as 40 minutes. A geometric sequence such as this, where each number is double the previous number [or f(n+1) = 2 f(n)] produces a rapid increase in the population in a very short time. Infinity 13 Is one infinity bigger than another infinity? The size of all natural numbers, 1,2,3..., etc., is infinite. The set of all numbers between one and zero is also infinite - is one infinite set larger than the other? The deep questions of maths can leave you feeling very small in a vast universe.