Nature’s Number by Ian Stewart

Synthesis Paper

Mathematics helps organize patterns and regularities in the World. Natural patterns exist

in nature and it can be seen in trees, symmetries, spirals, waves, cracks, stripes, etc., in short, it

exists everywhere. These beautiful patterns give rise to the question of how does mathematics

helps organize patterns and regularities in the world? Mathematics is more than just a number

incorporated with logic. It is not just an academic requirement needed to be taken; mathematics

is a way of life. The book Nature's Number by Ian Stewart served as an eye-opener to all of us

and make us see the world from a Mathematician's point of view.

"We live in a universe of patterns where every night, the stars move in circles across the sky."

The said quote was taken from the first two lines of the book and after reading those

lines, it was difficult not to be curious to wonder what the book is all about. Ian Stewart’s The

Natures of Numbers shows how life on earth forms the principles of mathematics. Starting with

the simplest patterns, each chapter looks at a different kind of patterning system and the

mathematics that underlies it. In doing so, the book also uncovers some universal patterns, both

in nature and man-made, from the basic geometry of ancient Greece to the visually startling

fractals. Ian Stewart started the book with Natural Order. He started describing that the world we

live have patterns just like how the stars move in circles at night, snowflakes that are not the

same but have six-fold symmetry, intricated trains of waves across the ocean, and the colored arc

of lights in the sky or the thing we call a rainbow. We also have the simplest pattern, and these

are the numbers. From the very first chapter, the book stated the uncontroversial idea that nature

is full of patterns. The author, showed a very insightful idea as he explains how patterns are

everywhere in our universe. In the first chapter, he helped us welcomed the idea of mathematics

being all around us. Through the presentation of obvious patterns, integral relationships of

strange things, how all these things continuously interact with each other; he showed how

generalities and regularities of these things in this universe contributed a lot in achieving

universality despite their diversity and he called this tiny symmetrical detail, patterns. Patterns

that can be seen everywhere, patterns that are present in every object you can and can’t visibly

see, and patterns that are difficult not to notice. He further explained these patterns by giving
examples like the stripes on hyenas and tigers, the honeycomb, the symmetry of the ending

points of a snowflake, the shape of the raindrops falling from the clouds in the same number of

petals for each flower. And as humans being an intellectual being, we created a formal system of

thoughts for recognizing, classifying exploring patterns which we called mathematics.

Mathematics, doing its part to change the world, has reached the peak of its relevance by making

an uproar through its practical applications. Here, Stuart differentiates pure mathematics from

applied mathematics on pure mathematics he discusses the special role of mathematics in human

culture it is a more or less systematic way of digging out the rules and structures that lie behind

some observed pattern or regularity then using those roles and structures to explain what’s going

on and indeed mathematics help us understand the laws of nature while the applied mathematics

shows its practical applications and how mathematics made things better by enforcing it with

some other things like knowing how gravity works how acceleration became rate of change of

how to solve puzzles of the world through explaining the planetary movement describing the

change of quantities to calculus and discuss the evolution of the eye.

Mathematics became the key to unlock the mystery behind the patterns that recur in

nature from the smallest seashell to the leaves and branches of trees inland. Ian Stewart thinks of

patterns as basically numerical patterns, geometric patterns, and movement patterns. However,

before he published his book and had the curiosity about the patterns that occur in nature there

were already people who tried to unlock the patterns of nature. According to Ian Stewart, there

are numerical patterns in the geometric shapes including triangles, squares, pentagons, hexagons,

circles, ellipses, spirals, cubes, spheres, cones. Also, all of these shapes can be found in nature,

although some are far more common than others. The fractals and chaos also mentioned which

explained the consequences of chaos. The book also deals with the pattern of movement of

different animals. Also, give meaning to the pattern of movement namely trot, pace, bound,

walk, rotary, gallop, traverse gallop, and canter. Given all the examples mentioned in the book, it

shows that things around us can be understood with the aid of mathematics.

Mathematics has proven that almost anything in the world can be calculated by looking at

its pattern. Mathematics is all about taking complex problems by making it objective and

measurable. In that way, it can help organize information and put them into various patterns

through their value. Every line and shape can be put into numbers. Mathematics helps organize

things and regularities in the world in a very beautiful, yet complex way. It is all inside the
human mind, the mind plays the tricks. It is innate to humans to see and appreciate things that are

in order. Humans like order, lines, similarities, arrangements, and piles. For example, if the arms

of starfishes are not symmetrical would it be beautiful? How about the rainbow’s arc? If the

seashells are not perfectly spiral would be still collected for decorations? How about the different

sizes of flowers’ petals? If the human’s eyes are not placed opposite to the other one how would

it work? If there is no pattern in the night sky would it be still nice to look at it? Without

mathematics, there will be chaos. Mathematics brings out the beauty of the world. There is

mathematics in stars, constellations, moon, bacteria, insects, plants, animals, humans, and

everything.
VIGNETTE