The golden mean is derived from much earlier in history as far back as the ancient Egyptians. Originally the ancient civilizations used it for many things, for instance, the Egyptians made the pyramids using the golden mean proportion. The ancient Greeks used the golden mean to build the base for the Parthenon. The golden mean is also used in art, one example would be the Mona Lisa. The golden mean was even used for the layout of Stonehenge which was made sometime around 3100 BC! As you can probably tell it would be very hard to pin point exactly where the golden mean was derived from so the mystery stays embedded in the pages of history.