This Amazingly Symmetrical World

Preface
A Conversation
I Symmetry Around Us
Mirror Symmetry
An Object and Its Mirror Twin
Mirror Symmetry
Enantiomorphs
Other Kinds of Symmetry
Rotational Symmetry
Mirror-Rotational Symmetry
Translational Symmetry
Bad Neighbours
Glide Plane (Axis) of Symmetry
Borders and Patterns
Borders
Decorative Patterns
Pattern Construction
The `Lizards' Design
Regular Polyhedra
The Five Platonic Solids
The Symmetry of the Regular Polyhedra
The Uses of the Platonic Solids to Explain Some Fundamental Problems
On the Role of Symmetry in the Cognition of Nature
Symmetry In Nature
From the Concept of Symmetry to the Real Picture of a Symmetrical World
Symmetry in Inanimate Nature. Crystals
Symmetry in the World of Plants
Symmetry in the World of Animals
Inhabitants of Other Worlds
Order in the World of Atoms
Molecules
The Puzzle of the Benzene Ring
The Crystal Lattice
The Face-Centred Cubic Lattice
Polymorphism
The Crystal Lattice and the External Appearance of a Crystal
The Experimental Study of Crystal Structures
The Mysteries of Water
Magnetic Structures
Order and Disorder
Spirality In Nature
The Symmetry and Asymmetry of the Helix
Helices in Nature
The DNA Molecule
The Rotation of the Plane of Light Polarization
Left and Right Molecules. Stereoisomerism
The Left-Right Asymmetry of Molecules and Life
II Symmetry Around Us
Symmetry and The Relativity of Motion
The Relativity Principle
The Relativity of Simultaneous Events
The Lorentz Transformations
The Relativity of Time Periods
The Speed in Various Frames
The Symmetry of Physical Laws
Symmetry Under Spatial Translations
Rotational Symmetry
Symmetry in Time
The Symmetry Under Mirror Reflection
An Example of Asymmetry of Physical Laws
Conservation Laws
An Unusual Adventure of Baron Münchhausen
The Problem of Billiard Balls
On the Law of Conservation of Momentum
The Vector Product of Two Vectors
Kepler's Second Law
Conservation of the Intrinsic Angular Momentum of a Rotating Body
Symmetry and Conservation Laws
The Relationship of Space and Time Symmetry to Conservation Laws
The Universal and Fundamental Nature of Conservation Laws
The Practical Value of Conservation Laws
The Example of the Compton Effect
Conservation Laws as Prohibiting Rules
The World of Elementary Particles
Some Features of Particles
The Zoo of Elementary Particles
Particles and Antiparticles
Particles, Antiparticles and Symmetry
Neutrino and Antineutrino
The Instability of Particles
Inter-conversions of Particles
Conservation Laws and Particles
Conservation of Energy and Momentum in Particle Reactions
The Conservation of Electric Charge and Stability of the Electron
The Three Conservation Laws and Neutrino
Experimental Determination of Electron Antineutrino
Electron and Muon Numbers. Electron and Muon Neutrinos
The Baryon Number and Stability of the Proton
Discrete Symmetries. CPT-Invariance
The Ozma Problem
What Is the Ozma Problem?
The Ozma Problem Before 1956
The Mirror Asymmetry of Beta-Decay Processes
The Mirror Asymmetry in Decay Processes and the Ozma Problem
The Fall of Charge-Conjugation Symmetry
Combined Parity
Combined Parity and the Ozma Problem
The Solution to the Ozma Problem
Fermions and Bosons
The Periodic Table and the Pauli Principle
Commutative Symmetry. Fermions and Bosons
Symmetrical and Antisymmetrical Wave Functions
The Superfluidity of Liquid Helium. Superconductivity
Induced Light Generation and Lasers
The Symmetry of Various Interactions
The Principal Types of Interactions
Isotopic Invariance of Strong Interactions. The Isotopic Spin (Isospin)
Strangeness Conservation in Strong and Electromagnetic Interactions
Interactions and Conservations
A Curious Formula
The Unitary Symmetry of Strong Interactions
Quark-Lepton Symmetry
Quarks
The Charmed World
Quark-Lepton Symmetry
A New Discovery
A Conversation Between the Author and the Reader About the Role of Symmetry
The Ubiquitous Symmetry
The Development of the Concept of Symmetry
Symmetry-Asymmetry
On the Role of Symmetry in the Scientific Quest for Knowledge
Symmetry in Creative Arts
Literature