Maths in the Forest

I am always impressed by the way ferns grow: the stem unfurls out of the ground, then the first level of leaves unfurls from the stem, then the next level of leaves again, and so on. This way of growing reminds me of the belief of early biologists, who thought we contained many levels of small, preformed humans within our bodies (the"homunculi", the theory is now known as Preformationism). I don't know whether there is a known biological reason for this way of growing, but it does look pretty.


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