The Geometry of the Enterprise

Now I have a reason for why I like the TOS Enterprise better than the Next Generation. [Link]

The designer who created the starships for Gene Roddenberry was a guy named Matt Jeffries. His design of the Federation Constitution Class Heavy Cruiser (better known as the Starship Enterprise) is perhaps the most recognized science fiction ship in the history of the genre. Just as the Parthenon was built upon the firm foundations of the golden ratio, so too is Matt Jeffries’ Enterprise.

What is the golden ratio?

The first thing you need to understand is that the golden ratio is represented by two numbers (I suppose all ratios are like that). 1.618033988749895… and it’s inverse 0.618033988749895….If you add both numbers together, you’ll almost reach 2. I say almost because they are both irrational numbers. The decimals go spinning off in a seemingly random order into infinity, similar in the way Pi does. In the early 1900s, an American mathematician assigned these numbers an upper-case and a lower-case greek letter we know as Phi and phi so the golden ratio is also known as ‘The Phi Ratio’.

The Fibonacci sequence

In 1202, an Italian mathematician named Leonardo Fibonacci wrote a book that would revolutionize how we use numbers. Prior to its publication, everyone in the west was using the same I’s, V’s, C’s and X’s the Romans were using. However, Fibonacci thought the Arabs were doing it was much better and he must have been very convincing because soon afterwards everybody was using the now familiar 0 through 9 system we use today.

Fibonacci’s contribution to the golden ratio has to do with something he called “The Fibonacci Sequence”. Actually, Indian mathematicians knew about it for a long time but it goes something like this. Each number is the sum of the previous two numbers, starting with 0 and 1. This sequence begins 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987. Doesn’t seem like a big deal, but the neat thing about it is if you divide one number by the previous, you get the golden ratio.

987/610 = 1.61803278688525

Well, not quite, but the higher you go, the more accurate it becomes! The idea that physical beauty is literally embedded within the mathematical equivalent of a ‘party trick’ really baked some peoples brains. Still does, in fact.