The perception of symmetry in art and in nature has been appreciated since antiquity, with development of the underlying laws tracing back at least to Pythagorean times. By the end of the eighteenth century it was realized that the immense variety of natural crystal shapes could be accounted for on the basis of a rather small number of symmetry operations, of which some were equally applicable to biological systems. The mathematical theory of symmetry continued to mature throughout the last century, culminating in the independent discoveries in Russia, Germany, and England that a total of only 230 independent ways exist in which the operations of rotation, reflection, and translation can be combined to transform three-dimensional geometrical objects into themselves. Derivation of the 230 space groups depends ultimately on restricting the meaning of symmetry to that of a property of purely geometrical figures. A. V. Shubnikov and his collaborators, over the past three decades, expanded this concept of symmetry to include the sign of transformation operations.

The first comprehensive book on the topic in half a century explores recent symmetry – and symmetry breaking – related discoveries, and discusses the questions and answers they raise in diverse disciplines: particle and high-energy physics, structural chemistry and the biochemistry of proteins, in genetic code study, in brain research, and also in architectural structures, and business decision making, to mention only a few examples.

The perception of symmetry in art and in nature has been appreciated since antiquity, with development of the underlying laws tracing back at least to Pythagorean times. By the end of the eighteenth century it was realized that the immense variety of natural crystal shapes could be accounted for on the basis of a rather small number of symmetry operations, of which some were equally applicable to biological systems. The mathematical theory of symmetry continued to mature throughout the last century, culminating in the independent discoveries in Russia, Germany, and England that a total of only 230 independent ways exist in which the operations of rotation, reflection, and translation can be combined to transform three-dimensional geometrical objects into themselves. Derivation of the 230 space groups depends ultimately on restricting the meaning of symmetry to that of a property of purely geometrical figures. A. V. Shubnikov and his collaborators, over the past three decades, expanded this concept of symmetry to include the sign of transformation operations.

The authors, world-renowned scientists, have already produced a dozen books on symmetry for professionals as well as lay persons, for grownups as well as children, in English, Russian, German, Hungarian, and Swedish languages. They provide this attractive account of symmetry in few words and many oOe1/4OCO as many as 650 oOe1/4OCO images in full color from the most diverse corners of our globe. An encounter with this book will open up a whole new experience for the reader, who will never look at the world with the same eyes as before."

Looking beyond the boundaries of various disciplines, the author demonstrates that symmetry is a fascinating phenomenon which provides endless stimulation and challenges. He explains that it is possible to readapt art to the sciences, and vice versa, by means of an evolutionary concept of symmetry. Many pictorial examples are included to enable the reader to fully understand the issues discussed. Based on the artistic evidence that the author has collected, he proposes that the new ars evolutoria can function as an example for the sciences.The book is divided into three distinct parts, each one focusing on a special issue. In Part I, the phenomenon of symmetry, including its discovery and meaning is reviewed. The author looks closely at how Vitruvius, Polyclitus, Democritus, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Augustine, Alberti, Leonardo da Vinci and Durer viewed symmetry. This is followed by an explanation on how the concept of symmetry developed. The author further discusses symmetry as it appears in art and science, as well as in the modern age. Later, he expounds the view of symmetry as an evolutionary concept which can lead to a new unity of science. In Part II, he covers the points of contact between the form-developing process in nature and art. He deals with biological questions, in particular evolution.The collection of new and precise data on perception and knowledge with regard to the postulated reality of symmetry leads to further development of the evolutionary theory of symmetry in Part III. The author traces the enormous treasure of observations made in nature and culture back to a few underlying structural principles. He demonstrates symmetry as a far-reaching, leading, structuring, causal element of evolution, as the idea lying behind nature and culture. Numerous controllable reproducible double-mirror experiments on a new stereoscopic vision verify a symmetrization theory of perception.

Katherine Larson is the winner of the 2010 Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition. With "Radial Symmetry," she has created a transcendent body of poems that flourish in the liminal spaces that separate scientific inquiry from empathic knowledge, astute observation from sublime witness. Larson's inventive lyrics lead the reader through vertiginous landscapes - geographical, phenomenological, psychological - while always remaining attendant to the speaker's own fragile, creaturely self. An experienced research scientist and field ecologist, Larson dazzles with these sensuous and sophisticated poems, grappling with the powers of poetic imagination as well as the frightful realization of the human capacity for ecological destruction. The result is a profoundly moving collection: eloquent in its lament and celebration. Metamorphosis [an excerpt]: We dredge the stream with soup strainers and separate dragonfly and damselfly nymphs - their eyes like inky bulbs, jaws snapping at the light as if the world was full of tiny traps, each hairpin mechanism tripped for transformation. Such a ricochet of appetites insisting life, life, life against the watery dark, the tuberous reeds.

Looking beyond the boundaries of various disciplines, the author demonstrates that symmetry is a fascinating phenomenon which provides endless stimulation and challenges. He explains that it is possible to readapt art to the sciences, and vice versa, by means of an evolutionary concept of symmetry. Many pictorial examples are included to enable the reader to fully understand the issues discussed. Based on the artistic evidence that the author has collected, he proposes that the new ars evolutoria can function as an example for the sciences.The book is divided into three distinct parts, each one focusing on a special issue. In Part I, the phenomenon of symmetry, including its discovery and meaning is reviewed. The author looks closely at how Vitruvius, Polyclitus, Democritus, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Augustine, Alberti, Leonardo da Vinci and Durer viewed symmetry. This is followed by an explanation on how the concept of symmetry developed. The author further discusses symmetry as it appears in art and science, as well as in the modern age. Later, he expounds the view of symmetry as an evolutionary concept which can lead to a new unity of science. In Part II, he covers the points of contact between the form-developing process in nature and art. He deals with biological questions, in particular evolution.The collection of new and precise data on perception and knowledge with regard to the postulated reality of symmetry leads to further development of the evolutionary theory of symmetry in Part III. The author traces the enormous treasure of observations made in nature and culture back to a few underlying structural principles. He demonstrates symmetry as a far-reaching, leading, structuring, causal element of evolution, as the idea lying behind nature and culture. Numerous controllable reproducible double-mirror experiments on a new stereoscopic vision verify a symmetrization theory of perception.

The perception of symmetry in art and in nature has been appreciated since antiquity, with development of the underlying laws tracing back at least to Pythagorean times. By the end of the eighteenth century it was realized that the immense variety of natural crystal shapes could be accounted for on the basis of a rather small number of symmetry operations, of which some were equally applicable to biological systems. The mathematical theory of symmetry continued to mature throughout the last century, culminating in the independent discoveries in Russia, Germany, and England that a total of only 230 independent ways exist in which the operations of rotation, reflection, and translation can be combined to transform three-dimensional geometrical objects into themselves. Derivation of the 230 space groups depends ultimately on restricting the meaning of symmetry to that of a property of purely geometrical figures. A. V. Shubnikov and his collaborators, over the past three decades, expanded this concept of symmetry to include the sign of transformation operations.

An engaging exploration of beauty in physics, with a foreword by Nobel Prize–winning physicist Roger Penrose The concept of symmetry has widespread manifestations and many diverse applications—from architecture to mathematics to science. Yet, as twentieth-century physics has revealed, symmetry has a special, central role in nature, one that is occasionally and enigmatically violated. Fearful Symmetry brings the incredible discoveries of the juxtaposition of symmetry and asymmetry in contemporary physics within everyone's grasp. A. Zee, a distinguished physicist and skillful expositor, tells the exciting story of how contemporary theoretical physicists are following Einstein in their search for the beauty and simplicity of Nature. Animated by a sense of reverence and whimsy, Fearful Symmetry describes the majestic sweep and accomplishments of twentieth-century physics—one of the greatest chapters in the intellectual history of humankind.