If you’ve read The Golden Couple, book 2 in The Samantha Project series, you’re familiar with the golden ratio. If you haven’t read the book yet, don’t worry! I’m not giving away any big spoilers–just a small one at the end, but it’s clearly marked! Today’s post is all about the golden ratio and how it made its way into book 2.

Last fall, when I was halfway done writing The Golden Couple, I was doing some research and came across information about the golden ratio, sometimes represented by the Greek letter phi. The golden ratio is a mathematical equation that has been used for centuries by painters, sculptors, architects, and other people looking to replicate its proportions, including Leonardo da Vinci and Salvador Dali. It’s believed to have been used when building the Egyptian pyramids, the Greek Parthenon, Notre Dame, and the Taj Mahal.

Apparently, when something fits the proportions of the golden ratio, it’s very pleasing to the eye, almost nearing perfection. For instance, research shows that people find a face having features fitting the golden ratio dimensions to be more appealing than one that doesn’t. The way the eyes are spaced, nose placement, the shape the face–the closer those features are to the golden ratio, the more appealing the face.

The thing I found most interesting about the golden ratio is that it’s found so frequently in nature. You can see it in the design of the human body (including our hands and feet), trees, leaves, and other objects in nature. Researchers have even found the golden ratio in human DNA via the double helix design.

So . . . small spoiler ahead!! . . . my thinking for The Golden Couple was that it would be interesting if scientists created unique genetic sequences that fit the proportions of the golden ratio. Is that what GlobalLife has done with the sequences they built in Samantha and Erik, who they now refer to as “the golden couple”? If so, does that make Sam and Erik more perfect than the rest of us? Can scientists use these sequences to create more perfect people? And what exactly is perfection? How is it defined? These questions aren’t all answered in the book. It’s more of a topic of discussion so feel free to add comments here and let me know your thoughts!