We would be lost as a society without the ability to instantly rank beautiful celebrities. We live for that stuff. But did you know an obscure mathematical sequence may lie behind our celebrity crushes?
The Golden Ratio
The Fibonacci sequence is a set of numbers in which each number comes from the two preceding numbers added together. The sequence’s name comes from Leonardo of Pisa, an Italian mathematician from the 13th century. Leonardo discovered this particular sequence of numbers by imagining an exploding rabbit population.
The assumptive growth of the rabbit pairs led the mathematician to notice a pattern. Each month the number of rabbit pairs would increase by adding together the previous two months’ figures—0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, etc. Despite Leonardo of Pisa being credited with the discovery of this pattern, there’s evidence Indian mathematicians knew of the sequence as early as the 6th century.
Dividing each number by the previous one in the sequence (2 divided by 1, 3 divided by 2, etc.) creates the “golden ratio” or golden spiral. This ratio is notated by the Greek symbol for Phi and can be found in nature, architecture, and even in human faces.
The arrangement of flower petals, the spiral of a pineapple, and the distance between someone’s eyes and nose all share this ratio. Many believe the symmetry and proportions created by this ratio even define the beauty of the human face.
Beauty and The Phi
Phi is also the ratio of the side of a pentagon to its diagonal, which results in the shape of a pentagram. The geometric use of Phi is what scientists have used to map the beauty of facial features.
Plastic surgeon Julian De Silva uses computer mapping technology to analyze the faces of celebrities. De Silva’s system has determined who has the most symmetrical face,
De Silva transferred the measurements into percentages closest to the golden ratio and ranked each celebrity. The higher the percentage, the closer to the ratio, thus supposedly making the person more attractive. It seems like there’s something to this theory, considering the man De Silva ranked first.
The Top Five
David Beckham comes in at No. 5 on De Silva’s list, with an 88.96 percent match to the golden ratio. This spot may seem low for Beckham, but he does seem to have a pretty symmetrical and proportionate face. No wonder everyone likes looking at him so much.
Harry Styles ranks No. 4, with an 89.63 percent match, and is the winner of the unofficial Best Jawline Contest.
No surprise here, but Brad Pitt holds the third place title. Pitt is no stranger to fans swooning over him. It makes sense that he has a 90.51 percent match.
Second place belongs to Bradley Cooper, with a match of 91.80 percent.
And the coveted first place title for most beautiful male celebrity belongs to none other than George Clooney, who’s face matches at 91.86 percent.
Of course, not everyone will agree with the rankings or even the individuals on this list being the most attractive. People have different tastes, and what was believed to be beautiful in past centuries isn’t necessarily appealing now.
Still, it’s hard to deny the link between the golden ratio and some of Hollywood’s hottest male celebrities. Who knew mathematics could be so exciting?
