Abstract
The phenomenon of natural optical activity has played a major role in the study and development of such diverse areas of science as the physics of light, the structure of molecules, and the nature of life itself. Organic optical activity has been looked upon as a unique characteristic of life. The present living matter on Earth is asymmetric, as it contains mainly L-amino acids and D-sugars. An optically active molecule exists in two distinct mirror image forms, it either has the left-handed L- or the right-handed D-type structure. On a macroscopic scale, chirality occurs in nature and in man-made articles. Screws, gloves, golf clubs, and springs are some examples of manufactured chiral objects; whereas flowers, winding vegetations, and snails are a few examples of natural chiral objects.
Any man who, upon looking at his bare feet, doesn’t laugh, has either no sense of symmetry or no sense of humor.
Descartes
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Bassiri, S. (1990). Electromagnetic Waves in Chiral Media. In: Kritikos, H.N., Jaggard, D.L. (eds) Recent Advances in Electromagnetic Theory. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3330-5_1
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