Symmetry

By Sebastiaan

Symmetry is a wondrous subject, which one not only finds in mathematics, but in other subjects as well, and of course, in nature.

First, let's start by defining symmetry. There are different kinds of symmetry, but the one that springs immediately to mind, is reflection symmetry. Look at the following kite:

It has a clear axis of symmetry right through the centre. But we could also look at a star like this one:

This one also has the symmetry axis, but as you can see, it can also be rotated - this is called rotational symmetry.

But there are other forms of symmetry too. What about palindromes? They are found in words, numbers or sequences of words and numbers... Here are a few examples:

eye
never odd or even
1475741
etcetera..

I absolutely love playing with words and numbers. That's why I love symmetry. You can find symmetry in many places, if you look hard enough. Gorgeous symmetry can be found inside music. In the lyrics, but most definitely in the instruments too. But that's for some future post.