Review of Symmetry through the Eyes of a Chemist, 3rd Edition

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Review of Symmetry through the Eyes of a Chemist, 3rd Edition George B. Kauffman* Department of Chemistry, California State University, Fresno, Fresno, California 93740-8034, United States Geometry” (71 pp); 4. “Helpful Mathematical Tools” (47 pp); 5. “Molecular Vibrations” (21 pp, the shortest chapter); 6. “Electronic Structure of Atoms and Molecules” (74 pp); 7. “Chemical Reactions” (58 pp); 8. “Space-Group Symmetries” (42 pp); and 9. “Crystals” (92 pp, the longest chapter). They have also added a two-page “Epilogue”, revised and streamlined the text, and have expanded the illustrative material, especially the sections dealing with biopolymers and quasicrystals. Once again, the book abounds with concrete analogies and examples, many in the form of paintings; photographs, many by the authors themselves; drawings; structural formulas; and reaction schemes. Each chapter is headed with a pertinent quotation and concludes with numerous references. A glimpse of the panoramic sweep of the book may be inferred from the immense variety of illustrations, natural and manmade, chosen from the principles of symmetrysculpture, architecture, designs, carvings, flowers, snowflakes, postage stamps, music, literature, the human body and face, and a host of others. With the publication of this volume, István and Magdi celebrate four decades of their collaboration on symmetry and their 40th wedding anniversary. In conclusion, I can only repeat, more enthusiastically if possibly, my evaluation of their first edition:8 This excellent survey of the entire field of chemistry from the viewpoint of symmetry, written in lucid, graceful, and grammatically correct English, should serve as a model which native speakers of English may well emulate. I warmly recommend it to all chemists, both academic and industrial, who are interested in viewing their science from an unusually broad perspective.

Symmetry through the Eyes of a Chemist, 3rd edition by Magdolna Hargittai and István Hargittai. Springer Science + Business Media B.V.: Secaucus, NJ, 2009. xii + 520 pp. ISBN 978-1402056277 (hardcover). $219.00.

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n a 1000-page symposium volume published 26 years ago, the prolific and versatile Hungarian chemist István Hargittai declared, “Not only is symmetry one of the fundamental concepts in science, but it is also possibly the best bridging idea crossing various branches of science, the arts, and many other human activities.”1 Since then, symmetry and its linkage between the sciences and humanities has remained one of his central interests.2 He employed the same imaginative approach in a paperback book3 written for a Hungarian Academy of Sciences popular science series. During his visiting professorship (1983−1985) at the University of Connecticut, he and his wife and frequent collaborator, fellow structural chemist Magdolna Hargittai, prepared a revised and expanded English version of this book, which was published as Symmetry through the Eyes of a Chemist.4

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AUTHOR INFORMATION

Corresponding Author

*E-mail: [email protected]. Notes

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

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Cover image provided by Springer Science + Business Media B.V. and reproduced with permission.

In this new edition, the authors, currently affiliated with the Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry and Materials Structure and Modeling Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, continue to present many examples from chemistry and other fields to emphasize the unifying nature of symmetry as well as to provide æsthetic pleasure. They acknowledge the two classic worksby Hermann Weyl5 and Aleksei ́ Vasil’evich Shubnikov and Vladimir Aleksandrovich Koptsik6that influenced their approach to the subject matter of their book. The authors have retained the format and nine chapters of the previous editions:4,7 1. “Introduction” (23 pp); 2. “Simple and Combined Symmetries” (71 pp); 3. “Molecular Shape and © 2012 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

REFERENCES

(1) Hargittai, I., Ed. Symmetry: Unifying Human Understanding; Pergamon: Oxford, 1986. (2) Hargittai, I. Degas’ Dancers: An Illustration for Rotational Isomers. J. Chem. Educ. 1983, 60, 94. (3) Hargittai, I. Szimmetria egy kémikus szeméval; Akadémiai Kiadó: Budapest, 1983. (4) Hargittai, I.; Hargittai, M. Symmetry through the Eyes of a Chemist; VCH Publishers: New York, 1986; xii + 458 pp. (5) Weyl, H. Symmetry; Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ, 1952. (6) Shubnikov, A. V.; Koptsik, V. A. Symmetry in Science and Art; Plenum Press: New York/London, 1974; English translation by Published: July 12, 2012 1102

dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed300401q | J. Chem. Educ. 2012, 89, 1102−1103

Journal of Chemical Education

Book and Media Review

Archard, G. D., Harker, D., Ed. of Simmetriya v nauke i isskustve; Nauka: Moscow, 1972. (7) Hargittai, I.; Hargittai, M. Symmetry through the Eyes of a Chemist, 2nd ed.; Plenum Press: New York, 1995; xii + 469 pp. (8) For a review, see Kauffman, G. B. J. Chem. Educ. 1987, 64, A249.

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dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed300401q | J. Chem. Educ. 2012, 89, 1102−1103