Abstract
The simplest and most common of all symmetries is bilateral symmetry, yet at first sight, it does not appear as overwhelmingly important in chemistry as in our every-day life. The human body has bilateral symmetry, except for the asymmetric location of some internal organs.
Beauty is the first test… Godfrey Harold Hardy (1877–1947) [1]
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- 1.
This passage is in French in both the German original and English translation of Mann’s The Magic Mountain (see, References).
- 2.
This plant has been used to extract physiologically important alkaloids. One of the derivatives has become an important medicine that dilates blood vessels in the brain. Cavinton has been a popular drug for improving memory.
- 3.
We are grateful to Professor Alan L. Mackay (London) for the English translation.
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Hargittai, M., Hargittai, I. (2009). Simple and Combined Symmetries. In: Symmetry through the Eyes of a Chemist. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5628-4_2
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