Actually the measurement is 1-1.618 and the theory is that it appears in all living things. The nautilus shell, how plants grow, roses and the human skeleton. Also great art and architecture has incorporated the theory as well. It's supposed to be natures perfectproportional harmoney and the closer things fit into the equation the more our brains perseve them as attractive. It's not so much about beauty but about the more something differse from the equation the brain says it's defective and you may not want to mate with it. I found out about it 2 years ago and use it daily in designs. It's also great for character designs heroes follow it exactley and villians not at all. Not sure if it's true or not but it is a fun theory and it has helped my designs quite a bit. There are even tools available for measuring and layouts. Amazon.com has a few books about the subject the best I've found is "The Power of Limits" by Gyorgy Doczi