Who invented ratios and proportions?
Ratios and proportions have been known since before recorded history. One particular one was explored by the ancient Greeks – the Golden Ratio. This can be seen in the following line drawing, where the length of the line segment BC is in the same ratio to AB as AB is to the whole line. Algebraically, the relationship is: (ab+bc)/ab = ab/bc and there is important enough in mathematics to get it’s own symbol, the Greek letter phi, Φ. Phi is equal to about 1.618033… Phi is irrational, and the digits go on infinitely, never settling down into a predictable pattern.
