Symmetry and Tessellation 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,' -- that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."       --John Keats.  Ode on a Grecian Urn Symmetry is beauty; symmetry is truth - the unification of what Keats was looking for, what artists and scientists alike search for.  One searches for a perfect world, the yin yang in China, the mandala in India, the stomoe in Japan, placing faith in symmetry as an indication of that perfection.  Whether this faith is a social construct or not can be argued, but it is there nonetheless.  From the ancient Greeks, to the sixteenth century, people viewed the universe as a series of concentric circles; their symmetry, simplicity and repetition was appealing. Complete symmetry has been a goal for artists since time immemorial. Some examples are the golden section, the perfect proportions of Greek architecture, the foreshortening found in Renaissance art, the graphic artists of today. All find perfection in symmetry.  Symmetry gives mathematicians and scientists confidence in their results; historians claim that history repeats itself unless we take steps to prevent that; repitition is utilized by novelists, poets, and musicians. Throughout time, symmetry has led searchers on the path to perfection; enjoy the symmetrical and tesselated images we have presented and allow them to take you down a path toward truth and beauty. TABLE OF CONTENTS Defining Terms       Translation Reflection and Glide Reflection      Rotation Combinations    Super Special Graphics Artistic Representation    Dimensionality Links this page created by sam batchelor, sarah cowan, adam ecker, and sophie oberfield (web queen)