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Fibonacci in Hogwarts?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2016

Tomišlać Došlić*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska c. 25, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Extract

An elementary algebraic problem attributed to Leonardo of Pisa is analysed and some illogical elements in its formulation and solution are exposed. The natural context in which the problem was formulated is then proposed, and some consequences are discussed.

How many times have you heard that somebody is a wizard? And how many times did you take it literally? Most likely, the answer to the second question is ‘never’. And yet, there are reasons to believe that some people among us are real wizards, of the kind described with so much charm in the recently published series of books on Harry Potter [ 1, 2, 3, 4 ]. These books have provided us with a wealth of details on wizards and their society.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Mathematical Association 2003

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References

1. Rowling, J.K., Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Bloomsbury (1997) .Google Scholar
2. Rowling, J.K., Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Bloomsbury (1998).Google Scholar
3. Rowling, J.K., Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Bloomsbury (1999).Google Scholar
4. Rowling, J.K., Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Bloomsbury (2000).Google Scholar
5. Chistyakov, V.D., Old problems in elementary mathematics, (in Russian), Vysheyshaya shkola, Minsk (1978).Google Scholar
6. Graham, R., Knuth, D.E., Patashnik, O., Concrete Mathematics, Addison-Wesley (1989).Google Scholar