Symmetry

Catalog description

Symmetries are ubiquitous in nature and permeate the arts. Beginning with both intuitive definitions and more formal mathematical descriptions, the course will explore the symmetries in the subatomic constituents of matter and their interactions, larger-scale chemical and biological compounds, and the macroscopic natural world. Students will explore ways in which the human psyche is primed to find symmetry beautiful and examine the symmetries that underlie artistic creations, from geometrical patterns in artwork, to rhythm and chord progression in musical composition, and meter and rhyme in poetry. After a thorough study of symmetry, the course will end with a discussion of asymmetries and broken symmetries in nature and aesthetics.