An important and original study of the many fallacies associated with the concept of symmetry - and of the notable consequences of those fallacies for science, philosophy, architecture and other branches of Western civilization. Among the fallacies analyzed in depth: that Nature's forms are symmetric; that our concept of symmetry was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans; and that it was an important concept in medieval art and architecture. Selzer shows that - and why - the concept originated in the Italian Renaissance, and traces its role in the theory and practice of gardening. He proposes an original theory of the psychological underpinnings of the symmetry concept, and also of its important role in the aesthetics of power.