Throughout history, man has been pre-occupied with finding the patterns to life itself. And out of the seeming chaos of life, there has been one pattern that has been associated with all forms of symmetry and beauty known as the golden ratio.

The golden ratio is mathematically defined as 1.618 and is known as the most visually appealing number in the universe as it can be visualized in anything, from seashells to the human body!

In fact, this measure of 1.618 is so consistent with the label of beauty and symmetry, that in the famous art piece “The Vitruvian Man” by Leonardo Da Vinci (The “scientifically perfectly proportioned man”) 1.618 is the ratio between the ideal man’s shoulders to his waist.

Now, this should come as relatively no surprise as studies have shown for quite some time that men with broad shoulders in relation to their waist were seen as FAR more attractive by women.

1.618 can also be measured in a persons’ facial features and some of the most beautiful people on the planet have faces that very closely are in line with the golden ratio. People like Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, etc. are seen as extremely handsome and/or beautiful because of their facial features being so closely related to the golden ratio.

Back to the bodily side however. The measure of a man’s shoulder to waist ratio being 1.618 is known to be the scientifically most pleasing physique that a male can have. In fact, there are some websites who use this scientific foundation of the golden ratio to help men create the most scientifically attractive physique possible like Hardgainer
Bodybuilding by Matthew Carter.

“Many guys think that in order to be physically attractive you need to be absolutely huge and extremely lean but that’s not the case… You just need develop your body in accordance with natural laws like the golden ratio which anybody can do regardless of genetics” Says Matthew.

The golden ratio has been used in great pieces of art for hundreds if not thousands of years with The Vitruvian Man being the most famous of them. Michael Maestlin was the first to give the decimal approximation of the ratio, but it was used well before then by even the likes of ancient greece mathemticians such as Pythagoras due to it appearing so often in mathematical calculations of symmetry in nature.

Even today, plastic surgeons all around the world use the principles of the golden ratio in order to sculpt ideal faces for their clients. Let it also be known however, that when scientists created a face using digital means, it was seen by many as “too perfect” and “fake looking” which suggests that beauty of itself needs some variety from “true perfection” and that beauty is not 100% reliant on mathematics.

The golden ratio is theorized to be popularly used as far back as ancient greece, and is one of the many mathematic principles found in nature that remains studied and further proven to this day.

In fact, famous astrophysicist Mario Livio has gone on record before to say this about the golden ratio:

“Some of the greatest mathematical minds of all ages, from Pythagoras and Euclid in ancient Greece, through the medieval Italian mathematician Leonardo of Pisa and the Renaissance astronomer Johannes Kepler, to present-day scientific figures such as Oxford physicist Roger Penrose, have spent endless hours over this simple ratio and its properties Biologists, artists, musicians, historians, architects, psychologists, and even mystics have pondered and debated the basis of its ubiquity and appeal. In fact, it is probably fair to say that the Golden Ratio has inspired thinkers of all disciplines like no other number in the history of mathematics.”

This excerpt comes from Mario Livio’s book: The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the World's Most Astonishing Number.

Back to the human body, in a 2019 study it was found that the golden ratio of 1.618 is found all throughout the human body and specifically within the skulls. [R]

Let it also be known that when studying the likes of dogs, 2 types of monkeys, rabbits, and more. The animals’ skulls deviated from the golden ratio. “The other mammals we surveyed actually have unique ratios that approach the Golden Ratio with increased species sophistication,” says Rafael Tamargo, M.D., professor of neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “We believe that this finding may have important anthropological and evolutionary implications.”

In essence, the golden ratio has been not only studied but admired by mankind throughout history and it should be known to the reader that this will not stop any time soon as more and more people look up to it as an ideal.

With the rise of A.I. art and other mathematical creatives, who knows what will become of the perception of beauty and aesthetics. Will an era of unfathomable beauty make itself present in future architecture and art? Or will create inspiration be reduced to numbers, giving art a “lifelessness” feel? Only time will tell.