Recently, Batman mentioned a comic he’d seen about A4 paper and the golden ratio Lichtenberg Ratio (see the comments below). Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, we were able to track down the comic, which makes me laugh every time I read it. We were also able to find the author, who graciously gave us permission to post the panels here. If you click on them you’ll be directed to the Flickr site, where you can read them in a larger size.
Without further ado:
Copyright by The Valrus. Used with permission.
Tags: A4, Lichtenberg ratio
360 
October 7, 2009 at 7:18 pm |
Fantastic!! I don’t see what it has to do with the golden ratio, though… (well, I guess the golden ratio also has a nice self-similarity property, but it’s a different one).
October 8, 2009 at 4:09 am |
The link to the golden ratio also confused me.
At http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/iso-paper.html I found
Note: The Lichtenberg Ratio – used by the standard paper format series – is occasionally confused with the Golden Ratio (which Euclid referred to as the “extreme and mean ratio”). The Lichtenberg Ratio is defined by the equation a/b = 2b/a = sqrt(2), whereas the Golden Ratio is defined by a/b = (a+b)/a = b/(a−b) = (1 + sqrt(5))/2. While aesthetically pleasing properties have been attributed to both, the Lichtenberg Ratio has the advantage of preserving the aspect ratio when cutting a page into two. The Golden Ratio, on the other hand, preserves the aspect ratio when cutting a maximal square from the paper, a property that seems not particularly useful for office applications. The Golden Ratio was for a while a more fashionable topic in the antique and renaissance arts literature and it has a close connection to the Fibonacci sequence in mathematics.
October 7, 2009 at 7:28 pm |
When I click on the picture it tries to make me log in with yahoo and then make a flickr account. Is it just me?
October 7, 2009 at 8:21 pm |
I already had a flickr account, so I don’t know. Great explanation. Reminds me of Resi and Transi explaining electronics.
October 7, 2009 at 9:50 pm |
LOL! Will be sure to share! Thanks.
October 8, 2009 at 6:39 am |
Ack — thanks for the catch about the ratios (I was typing faster than I was thinking, which is never a good idea). It’s been fixed.
David, I’m not sure about Flickr. If you magnify the screen you might be able to read them better without needing to form a new account.
October 8, 2009 at 11:58 am |
I first saw the comic on the Questionable Content forums here. It’s very readable there.