"Extreme and Mean Ratio." The term Golden Section was given in the nineteenth century to the proportion derived from the division of a line into what Euclid (active about 300 BC) called "extreme and mean ratio." "A straight line," he explained, "is said to have been cut in extreme and mean ratio when, as the whole line is to the greater segment, so is the greater to the less." It is often claimed that the Golden Section is esthetically superior to all other proportions, and, if it is admitted that what pleases the eye is ^unity in variety, it may be said that this proportion fulfills this condition better than any other.
[Harlan, Calvin. Vision & Invention, An Introduction to Art Fundamentals. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986.]
R E F E R E N C E S
4 Mean n [14c] 1a [1]: something intervening or intermediate [2]: a middle point between extremes b: a value that lies within a range of values and is computed according to a prescribed law: as [1]: Artithmetic Mean [2]: Expected Value c: either of the middle two terms of a proportion 2pl but sing or pl in constr: something useful or helpful to a desired end 3pl: resources available for disposal: esp: material resources affording a secure life -by all means: most assuredly: Certainly -by means of: through the use of -by no means: in no way: not at all
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