It's counting season for Turing's Sunflowers

Growing a sunflower? Be part of our mass experiment to mark the centenary of Alan Turing's birth.

The mathematician and code breaker, Alan Turing, noticed that the spirals in sunflower heads often follow a pattern of numbers called the Fibonacci sequence: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144... where you simply add the last to numbers together to get the next number in the sequence.

Harvest and count!

With over 12,000 sunflowers pledged towards the experiment around the world (link to map), it's now time to count the spirals and gather enough data to build on Turing's legacy.

Counting the spirals is easy when you know how. Head to the Turing's Sunflowers website to register your sunflowers and access the counting guide, videos and counting events.

Spirals Count!

The results will be announced at Manchester Science Festival alongside a host of cultural events connected to Alan Turing's life and legacy.

In the meantime, check out our grower's stories online via the blog, sunflower diaries and growers' gallery.

Turing's Sunflowers is a MOSI initiative in association with Manchester Science Festival and supported by The University of Manchester and Manchester City Council.

For a list of all projects partners, visit the website.