SYMMETRY
Micro
Macro
Illustrated and Designed by Matt Dunn
We are surrounded by symmetry, it creates regularity and order within the Macrocosm and Microcosm
Contents Macrocosm: A Great World or Universe
The Milky Way Galaxy
The Planets
Architecture
Design
Microcosm: Humanity Viewed as a Miniature of the Universe
Humans
THE MILKY WAY GALAXY
Astronomers now believe that the Galaxy is a near-perfect mirror image of itself.
In addition to having mirror symmetry, the Milky Way has another incredible design where each “arm� of the galaxy represents a logarithmic spiral beginning at the center of the galaxy and expanding outwards.
The Milky Way Galaxy has the Fibonacci spiral embedded into it.
SUN - MOON SYMMETRY
With the Sun having a diameter of 1.4 Kilometers and the Moon having a diameter of a mere 3,474 kilometers, it seems almost impossible that the moon is able to block the sun’s light.
HOW DOES IT HAPPEN? Coincidentally, while the sun’s width is about four hundred times larger than that of the moon, the sun is also about four hundred times further away. The symmetry in this ratio makes the sun and the moon appear almost the same size when seen from Earth.
ARCHITECTURE
62 BC
2014 AD
Many years ago we discovered the advantages of using symmetry to build houses, cathedrals, places of work and even cities. Symmetry is everywhere in the natural and man made world.
PATTERN Architecture even has influence from mother nature, including bees and the structure of the honeycomb.
The structure of the honeycomb is a prime example of how symmetry can build a stable home, we have become so fascinated with the pattern that we even use it in architectual design and clothing.
DESIGN
Different types of symmetry found in natural forms are used as concepts in fashion and textile design.
It is usually considered that symmetrical composition in clothing is based on reflection or bilateral symmetry, because of the type of symmetry in the human body.
Are We Symmetrical?
Artists have long been fascinated by the Fibonacci numbers and ratios found in nature, as if the divine proportion had some deep significance.
HUMAN CELLS For many years artists have questioned if humans are symmetrical, though no one has discovered if we truly are, what lies inside us can develop symmetrically.
Even the smallest of living organisms can develop symmetrically
Symmetry, as wide or narrow as you may define its meaning,is one idea by which man through the ages has tried to comprehend and create order, beauty and perfection. Hermann Weyl
God, Thou great symmetry, Who put a biting lust in me From whence my sorrows spring, For all the frittered days That I have spent in shapeless ways Give me one perfect thing. Anna Wickham
Illustrated and Designed by Matt Dunn
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