Why the heart is on the left and the hands of the clock move to the right. The mysteries of the world's asymmetry
19.99 €
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Until recently, even explaining the difference between "right" and "left" to a conditional alien would have been problematic - these familiar concepts seemed so "earthly". But even without such abstract problems there are enough questions. Why are most people right-handed? Do left-handed people really behave differently than right-handed people? How are dominant hands related to certain speech disorders, such as stuttering? Why is the heart almost always on the left side of the body, and why is the human body made up of amino acids with left chirality? Why are the two hemispheres of the brain so different? Why do tornadoes rotate counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere? Why does one-third of the world drive on the left side of the road and two-thirds drive on the right? Why does European writing go from left to right and Arabic and Hebrew from right to left? Science has already found answers to some questions, but some of the paradoxes of asymmetry in nature, the body, and culture are still fascinating to grapple with. Examining examples from particle physics to the human body and from culture and sport to everyday life, this book will dispel your misconceptions about left and right and reveal the mysteries of asymmetry. Royal Society of London prize for popular science book of the year.
See also:
- All books by the publisher
- All books by the author
- All books in the series Denis Peskov's horizon
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