Symmetry revisited (Q748879)

The paper is based on two lectures presented by the author to the New York Academy of Science in 1986 and to the Special Session on ``The Mathematical Science of Hermann Weyl: A Centenary Tributes'', Am. Math. Soc., Amherst, Mass. (1985). He remembers the development of the mathematical theory of crystalline symmetry (from Kepler to Penrose), and the role, beauty and limitations of \textit{H. Weyl}'s ``swan song'' [Symmetry, Princeton Univ. Press, N.Y. (1952; Zbl 0046.004)]. He also demonstrates that many of the most interesting problems in contemporary symmetry theory (for example, spherical viruses, icosahedral quasicrystals) concern local configurations, and that the group theory may not be the only, or the best tool for studying them.