The answer, it turns out, is 144 — and the formula used to get to that answer is what's now known as the Fibonacci sequence. Read more: 9 equations that changed the world ...

In 1611, Johannes Kepler commented on the relationship between the Fibonacci sequence and the golden ratio, though he didn't pursue this connection extensively. 4 It wasn't until the 19th century ...

Those key ratios are derived from the division of one Fibonacci number by another Fibonacci figure one, two or three places further in the sequence: 0 divided by 1, or 0; 1 divided by 1, or 1; 1 ...