To Crochet a Cephalopod **

Nautilus belongs to the Phylum Mollusca -  it is a cephalopod,  a "head footed animal", related to squids and octopus.  A living fossil from 420 million years ago ( 265 million years before the dinosaurs), in the Lower Devonian  of the Paleozoic Era, it shared seas and oceans with ancient fishes, trilobites, brachiopods, crinoids, corals, gastropods, (the latter being "stomach footed animals").  It survived mass extinctions while the Ammonite species were all wiped out.  One book in the library had a picture of a Nautilus with a tall skinny spiral shape!

I drew this diagram, with info from net.

For a long time I presumed that the half section of seashell which adorns articles on the Fibonacci series to be that of a gastropod.  It was not until I saw a real Nautilus shell-  in a fabulous collection of huge seashells given to my friend Penny- that I realised it was not a spiral shell.  It is perfectly symmetrical both sides.
Back in this blog early on, I recounted how I thought how cool it would be to make a model of a Nautilus in accordance with the Fibonacci series.  One night I had an idea-  I leapt out of bed, switched on the torch and undid a crocheted snail model - and I managed to configure it into the yellow shape whose photo is under the black model! 

1597 stitches crocheted at outer  edge in the large model.
377 I think in the small model.
They are both made from the Hyperbolic shape Pattern
in accordance with the Fibonacci Series of numbers, described earlier.






My next drawing was made using the "pause" button on my portable DVD player:-

It is not possible to click to enlarge this image.  Maybe I have input too much data. The file size is presently 120KB after resizing as if  for email.  Before adding text it was 60.9KB.  Before resizing they were 3MB and 2.43MB.  I might have to redo the image with less text....  One needs a magnifying glass to read words!
It might be possible to select info, copy it and paste it into Word document, then edit it to be more readable.

It was quite wonderful to see film of Nautilus swimming in the Coral Reef DVD, purchased from the shop in the Australian Museum in Sydney. It is "Coral Sea Dreaming.  Awaken." 
See http://www.protectourcoralsea.org.au/
The makers of the film warn us that if oceans become acidic, then not only will calcareous shells of animals dissolve, also the eardrums of fishes such as whales and dolphins, made of calcium, will dissolve.

My feeling is that the best way we can save our world is to become peaceful ourselves, to be happy,  and that means all of us need to practise NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS,  and to help each other. Any negativity only feeds the negative.
I know it is hard not to worry when the situation feels impossible.
 His Holiness The Dalai Lama says we need to Transform Ourselves, with Compassion.
We ARE so powerful -  the Siberian Wisewoman Anastasia declares so to us.
 Her supraparaphraseing of the Lord's Prayer begins
 "Our Father who is Everywhere,  I am Your Daughter;  Your Joy I Declare."
Them is beautiful words.

Fossil Ammonite from Australian Museum's display; my photo.

Below is photo of Australian Museum, Sydney facade, near Hyde Park.





The word "Nautilus" has for a long time captured the imagination of the world at large.
First there was "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", by Jules Verne (1828 - 1905).
The "Nautilus" is the fictional submarine of Captain Nemo.
The film of the same name as the book starred James Mason, Kirk Douglas, Peter Lorre and .....
The battle with the giant squid was truly gripping!.
 A 3D version is being made.
Not only that, but astronomer David Reneke has a website and I subscribe to his newsletter. 
There is a multi mission space exploration vehicle, for the Moon and Mars,
 and its name is Nautilus - X 
 ie Non Atmospheric Universal Transport Intended for Lengthy United States Xploration. 
 See Wikipedia.

One last comment:-
I was lucky to find an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, regarding "Thinking Hyperbolically".
Feb 19, 2011.   Felix R  a student at Sydney's International Grammar School in Ultimo said how cool it is to see the maths underlying the world around us. ( I wish I had written down his exact words.)  Melissa Silk is the School's Head of Design and Jane Martin is Head of Maths.  Their students made nomographs from their names- fine art prints- exhibited at The Powerhouse Museum.

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21 July 2011
Making a model of Nautilus by rolling hyperbola shape up like a pancake is only half the story.
A more correct model would include the Septa which form up to 34 chambers.....
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