There's so much information and so many facts contained in Dan Brown's thrilling new page-turner that many readers need a quick reference guide to the history, geography, art and architecture, cryptology, science, people and places in the novel. Professor Beyer, who has taught seminars and produced online texts to Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels & Demons", started to work on this "Lost Symbol" companion guide three years ago in anticipation of its subject matter. As soon as the novel became available, he read and analysed it several times, identifying 33 critical topics that readers will want to know more about. The seven sections are organised by theme and follow the plot of the story: People and Places: Robert Langdon; Mal'akh, Christopher Abaddon, et al; Peter, Katherine & Isabel Solomon; The Smithsonian Museum Support Centre, and, Word Games; The District of Columbia: L'Enfant's Design, The New Rome; the Triangle; The National Cathedral; and, House of the Temple: The Washington Monument; Art and Architecture: The Apotheosis of Washington; The Three Graces; Melencolia I; and, The Capitol: The Obelisk and Pyramid; Cryptology: Kryptos; Right Hand of Mysteries; Freemason Cipher; Durer's and Franklin's Magic Squares; The Symbol Square; and, Cover Clues; Modern Science: Noetics; The Field and Intentional Experiment; Modern Day Physics; Weighing the Soul and Total Liquid Ventilation; Freemasonry: Origins; Founding Fathers; Symbols (including the significance of the number 33); and, Masons in Power; and, The Secret Teachings: The Hermetic Tradition; Manly Hall's Lists; and, Bacon and The Bible.