Publisher's Synopsis
Considering aspects of symmetry rules in chemistry, one is faced with con tradictory terms as for example, "90 % concertedness" sometimes being used in literature. To accept conservation of orbital symmetry to be as controlled as inversion by alternative principles seems far more promising. The intention of this book is aimed at introducing a qualitative understanding of phase rela tions in electromagnetic interactions. Avoiding one-sided dogmatism we tried to demonstrate the importance of alternative principles as guidelines to the evolution of alternative order in chemical systems. Passing through the jungle of information it became extremly important to control again and again our insights into the ordering phenomena by experi ments under conditions as coherent as possible. We became more aware of the fact that chemistry - the science of "becoming" in complex systems - can not be understood by mechanistic details, i. e. THROUGHPUT-studies alone, because the mechanism is only true for the special system under inves tigation and does not offer a tool for the evolution of opposite order. We had to accept chemistry as a mediator between molecular physics and general epistemology. This quite unusual combination was directed by excel lent teachers and the realizations were made possible by enthusiastic, open minded coworkers (see references). The next target we will strive for on this journey will be to quantify the alternative principles, that means obtaining the order parameters of H. Haken (e. g. in asymmetric synthesis).
