ENANTIOMORPHS (or ENANTIOMERS) 5)
← Back
Crystals of similar form but that cannot be superimposed, as one is the mirror image of the other.
Such a type of inverse symmetry- known as chirality seems to be a very basic feature of organization in systems. It was discovered by L. PASTEUR (1822-1895) (levogyre and dextrogyre crystals of tartaric acid)
Complementary enatiomorphic crystals derive polarized light either toward the left, or to ward the right respectively.
The same phenomenon appears also in biology, as for example in the opposed complementarity form of the human hands. It is oviously a specific case of the general opposition of symmetry and anti-symmetry.
Categories
- 1) General information
- 2) Methodology or model
- 3) Epistemology, ontology and semantics
- 4) Human sciences
- 5) Discipline oriented
Publisher
Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science(2020).
To cite this page, please use the following information:
Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (2020). Title of the entry. In Charles François (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics (2). Retrieved from www.systemspedia.org/[full/url]
We thank the following partners for making the open access of this volume possible: