# The Geometry of Nature and the Shape of Things

- Institution: Gresham College
- Speaker: Professor Alain Goriely FRS
- Year: 2025
- Level: For everyone
- Language: English
- Subjects: Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Medicine and health, Earth and environment, Astronomy and space
- Source: [Gresham College](https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/series/geometry-nature)
- Licence: [Educational use (Gresham College's terms)](https://www.gresham.ac.uk/terms-and-conditions)
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

The reflection of my right hand in a mirror is a left hand that looks similar yet is very different from the right. Many natural structures such as proteins, climbing vines, and seashells exhibit the same property known as chirality. Some of these objects are clearly left-handed, some are right-handed, some are both. The ultimate origin of chirality is one of Nature's great mysteries. This lecture discusses the general problem of determining the chirality of an object and how it impacts all branches of sciences.

## Lectures

1. [The Shape of Hands: Symmetry, Chirality and Handedness](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/gresham/series-geometry-nature/7e0adf1d0216) (Audio)
2. [The Shape of Plants: Why Plants Love Mathematics and Mathematicians Love Plants](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/gresham/series-geometry-nature/d42f9003659a) (YouTube)
3. [The Shape of Shells: She Sells Self-Similar Spiral Seashells on the Seashore](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/gresham/series-geometry-nature/3a739e2cc657) (Audio)
4. [The Shape of Gravity: Why On Earth Are Planets Spherical?](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/gresham/series-geometry-nature/3efc46ec4f92) (Audio)
5. [The Shape of Tiles: Regular and Irregular, Hard and Soft](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/gresham/series-geometry-nature/7a575cf79dd7) (Audio)
6. [The Shape of Knots: From DNA to Shoestrings and Solar Flares](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/gresham/series-geometry-nature/b80d6a6d51b3) (YouTube)