The concept of handedness—of left and right, say, or of clockwise and anti-clockwise—is deceptively simple. In fact, I think it is among the most subtle in all of science and mathematics. In this post I will pose a challenge that I hope intrigue my readers.
This will not be a test or a quiz: I have not yet completely worked out a solution myself. Rather, it is the opening salvo for what I hope will be an interesting discussion. For a follow-up post, I plan to interview some physicists to see what their take is. But first, some preliminaries.
Imagine that you had to explain the meaning of the words “left” and “right” to someone who had never heard those words before. And imagine, moreover, that you had to do so in a purely verbal manner, that is, without drawing pictures or pointing at things or otherwise making gestures.
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