Symmetry 2000. Parts 1 & 2. Edited by I. Hargittai and C. Laurent. Pp. xix + 627. London: Portland Press, 2002. Price GBP 110.00, US $165.00. ISBN 1 85578 149 2.

These two volumes record the proceedings of a symposium held at the Wenner-Gren Centre, Stockholm, Sweden, in September 2000. The 34 contributions with a mathematical or scientific basis include at least two of direct crystallographic interest, The shape of two-dimensional space by Alan L. Mackay and Space filling in molecular crystals by Jack D. Dunitz. 18 contributions have a more artistic or cultural bent, including one of the more (unintentionally) hilarious pieces I have come across in many years, Symmetry as a quality indicator of individuals: examples from studies of animal welfare, disease, and sexual selection by Anders Pape Møller, which references, inter alia, the original used-T-shirt sniffing studies of S. W. Gangestad and R. Thornhill.