The Human Body

The human body is based on Phi and 5

The human body illustrates the Golden Section or Divine Proportion. We'll use the same building blocks again:

Successive Golden Sections of a Line

The Divine Proportion in the Body

The white line is the body's height.

The blue line, a golden section of the white line, defines the distance from the head to the finger tips

The yellow line, a golden section of the blue line, defines the distance from the head to the navel and the elbows.

The green line, a golden section of the yellow line, defines the distance from the head to the pectorals and inside top of the arms, the width of the shoulders, the length of the forearm and the shin bone.

The magenta line, a golden section of the green line, defines the distance from the head to the base of the skull and the width of the abdomen. The sectioned portions of the magenta line determine the position of the nose and the hairline.

Although not shown, the golden section of the magenta line (also the short section of the green line) defines the width of the head and half the width of the chest and the hips.

Human body showing the Divine proportion

Another interesting relationship of golden section to the design of the human body is that there are:

5 appendages to the torso, in the arms, leg and head.
5 appendages on each of these, in the fingers and toes and 5 openings on the face.
5 senses in sight, sound, touch, taste and smell.

The golden section in turn, is also based on 5, as the number phi, or 1.6180339..., is computed using 5's, as follows:

5 ^ .5 * .5 + .5 = Φ

In this mathematical construction "5 ^ .5" means "5 raised to the 1/2 power," which is the square root of 5, which is then multiplied by .5 and to which .5 is then added.