FACT CANNON #1: Romanesco Broccoli, A Reality-Bending Vegetable
FACT CANNON: A regular series presenting amazing facts to impress and amuse your friends, family and colleagues.
Romanesco Broccoli
A stunning vegetable representation of fractal mathematics, the first time you see one you won't believe it's for real.
Internet sources suggest that this mind-bending vegetable originated in the Lazio region of Italy in the 16th century. However, it's reasonable to question whether it originated somewhat earlier, and whether it may have come to preoccupy the thinking of Leonardo Bonacci as he pondered the mysteries of mathematics. Bonacci, aka Fibonacci, ‘the most talented mathematician of the middle ages’, was born in the 12th century in Pisa ,only a couple of hundred kilometres north of Lazio. He also travelled extensively, so perhaps he fell under the magical broccoli's spell, and maybe it inspired him to discover the Fibonacci series that it so proudly displays all over its enchanting florets.
A lesser known fact greatly amplifies the air of unreality surrounding the vegetable. Convention states that a Fibonacci series can be started with either a zero and a one, or a one and one. Leonardo Bonacci may or may not have been aware that his name was an anagram of ‘Broccoli and a one’, which suggests a completely different start to the series! Unfortunately, he is unlikely to have spoken English, so the anagram would probably have been lost on him!
How to serve
Although not common, many greengrocers stock these remarkable veggies from time to time, so if you don’t believe the photos, search one out and stare deeply into its mesmerizing florets. Hard to believe it’s real, but it is; and if you’re wondering how to serve it Fibonacci would probably suggest it as an accompaniment to a mean steak, particularly served median rare, or perhaps a la mode!
Mmmm! Maths tastes real good – just like normal broccoli only a bit nuttier!
Inspiration:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanesco_broccoli
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibonacci
More FACT CANNON:
https://steemit.com/science/@matrioshka/fact-cannon-2-how-frankenstein-was-born-in-the-fiery-heart-of-a-super-volcano
If you like this edition of FACT CANNON, please upvote, comment, share and follow me. I'd love to turn this into a regular series, but it really depends on your support - that's right, make me trend! If you do I'll furnish you with loads more amazing facty info to fire at your friends.
Much better than your 'average' brassica! This would also go very nicely with a tasty pork 'pi'! A great article!
Nice addition, let's hope it doesn't divide opinion! :-)
Cheers!
Nice one! Makes you wonder whether the vegetable kingdom is more in tune with the underlying mathematical reality of our universe than we are!
Love pickled red cabbage by the way!
We are all connected
Totally agree with that!
It's a topic I hope to explore in a future post...
Hey All! Also check out FACT CANNON 2:
https://steemit.com/science/@matrioshka/fact-cannon-2-how-frankenstein-was-born-in-the-fiery-heart-of-a-super-volcano
More fascinating trivia to amaze & amuse! And more interesting than this one, for definite!
I'm glad you mentioned this broccoli! I almost cried the first time I saw it.
Yeah, it's the strangest thing isn't it? First time I saw it was in my local supermarket in about 2004, and at the time I had no idea such a thing existed - couldn't trace it on the net or anything! Was hard to believe it wasn't some sort of prank! Still that didn't stop me eating it! :-)
Lol, it's always fun when you buy some new fruit or vegetable and aren't sure how to eat it. I wish I lived in a place where this is available at the local supermarket.
Yeah, it's pretty rare here too, have only seen it once or twice since then. Maybe the manager was on holiday, and a mathematician was covering the stock ordering that week! :-)
I want one! I've only recently started eating....non meats. But I've always wondered what this one tastes like.
Just the thing to complement a meat tornado...
The series title alone is worth an upvote. I wish I'd thought of it. Damn your assonant elegance!
Cheers, glad you like the series! However, not 100% sure, but sadly I think I may have borrowed the title from a single throwaway line in a brilliant UK 1990s comedy series written by Chris Morris , called 'The Day Today'. I think the TV anchor was addressing a reporter, and said something like 'Shoot me with your fact cannon'. Hard to be completely sure now... 'The Day Today' was so good, and contained so much brilliant material that has soaked into the creative collective psyche - in fact many modern TV news shows often look like they're ripping off the show's over the top style. Anyway, can't recommend it enough if you've never seen it.
Confession over - all other content of my series is either verifiable fact or fully the product of my own subconscious mind. Guaranteed. :-)
Oh, I'm the BBC's bitch, but I haven't seen that one.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_Today
Chris Morris is a comedy hero of mine, pure brilliance.
Among other things launched Alan Partridge as Steve Coogan's most successful character.