He is widely known for the sequence of
numbers
1, 1, 2, 3,
5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, ......
(He contributed to mathematics in a number
of
other ways ..) The nth term
in the sequence is the sum of the previous two terms
i.e. Tn = Tn-1 +
Tn-2
This is often presented as a story
about the
breeding of pairs of rabbits, which are presumed
to become foecund in their third year, to breed
once per year thereafter yielding another pair
of rabbits each time.
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The rabbits live
for as many years as the required
number of terms in the sequence
For example after 4 years there is the
original pair
plus their offspring from year 3 and year
4, i.e
three pairs. After 5 years
two breeding pairs of
rabbits exist, giving two pairs of offspring
for this
year, plus a juvenile pair from the previous
year. A total of five pairs, 5 being the fifth Fibonacci
number. |