Every Dan Brown fan has heard of this mysterious figure that crops up everywhere—in the human body, in ancient architecture, in the natural world--and whose appeal nobody can explain. The truth is it doesn't appear in most of the places it's supposed to, and many of the claims about it are false.
每个丹·布朗的书迷都听说过这一充斥于我们周遭的神秘的黄金比例，人体内、古代建筑、自然界，而这一现象无人可以给出解释。真相是，黄金比例并没有出现在那些人们认为它应该出现的地方，关于黄金比例的很多说法都是错误的。

The Greeks knew about the golden ratio, and the Parthenon is the usual example given of its use in architecture. But any diagrams showing how its side or front elevations demonstrate a "golden rectangle" always either include some empty air at the top or leave out some steps at the bottom.
希腊人知道黄金比例并把它用在了帕台农神庙的建造中，这是黄金比例在建筑中的普通运用。但是，根据其侧视图和前视图显示，这一“黄金矩形”的诞生是由于误算了其高度，不是多算了顶部的高度，就是少算了底部的高度。

内容来自:可可英语 //www.utensil-race.com/read/201110/157456.shtml