The Golden Ratio

[Sethomas]

In my college bookstore, I saw a book that I believe was called The Golden Ratio about the mathematical constant phi. A roomie on one of my high school adventures told me about it, evidently there are all sorts of magical phenomenon associated with this number. The double helix, the cochlea, sea shells, spiral galaxies, and a whole bunch of other stuff seem to operate by this ratio. Does anybody know anything about it? What's the general scheme of it? I'd love to read the book but I didn't want to pay for the hardback version.