Dear Carol,
 
  I have studied the Fibonacci numbers and I have looked at those
Conch-L archives.
  Many things in the universe have Fibonacci patterns from DNA  to
spiral galaxies.  Music and freely traded markets (like the stock
market) also contain Fibonacci ratios.
  I once read somewhere, I can't remember where, that the Coast Guard
noticed three primary ocean waves that came in at certain intervals.
They used the breaks between them to time their vessel movements.
  For thousands of years architects have used the Fibonacci numbers in
their designs.  Structures designed with them are pleasing to the eye.
  A shape derived from the Fibonacci numbers is the logarithmic spiral.
The Nautilus shell is is supposed to be the shape of the logarithmic
spiral which is also known as the "Golden Spiral".  I argue that this is
not the case.  The Nautilus expands at a lesser ratio than the
logarithmic spiral.  Perhaps at the 1.3333 ratio rather than the 1.618
ratio.  However, the Nautilus shell apparently has some hidden Fibonacci
ratios.  They are found at:
http://www.drury.edu/education/fred/activities/nautilus/nautilus.html
 
Andrew Dickson
Miami, Florida