By George Smith Photoshop plugin, The Golden Ratio, Golden Ratio Throughout modern history artists and mathematicians have been fascinated by a special proportion known as the golden ratio, or golden section as it is also called. It has the special feature that if you divide a line into two sections, a larger A and a smaller B, according to the golden ratio, then A is to B as A+B is to A. Numerically it is about 1: 1.618. Artists and architects, even musicians, have used the golden ratio as a basis for their paintings and buildings, or music. The golden ratio has, more than any number in the history of mathematics, inspired thinkers of all disciplines. It has inspired men for at least 2.400 years since Pythagoras and Euklid in ancient Greece. Amongst the prominent thinkers, who have pondered the golden ratio, we can mention Leonardo of Pisa, Johannes Kepler and the present day physicist Roger Penrose. It has fascinated biologists, artists, musicians, architects, psychologists ...