Transcript Artists and Science

Art is the Tree of Life,
Science is the Tree of Death
William Blake
When man ate from the tree of knowledge
he elected to find a short-cut to the
Godhead. He attempted to rob the Creator
of the divine secret, which to him spelled
power. What has been the result? Sin,
disease, death
Henry Miller
- cf the Ascent of Science - Silver
Imagine the 17th Century – in London the
Plague; Vienna ravaged by syphilis; many
women died in chilbirth – Rousseu wrote in
1762 “Half of all children will die by the age
of eight. This is an immutable figure. Do not
try to change it”. We in the developed world
live in an age liberated from the fear of
(early) death by infectious disease.
from - Gustav Born; AvH Magazin 72/98
Voltaire wrote to Newton:
I do not see why the study of physics should
crush the flowers of poetry. Is truth such a
poor thing that it is unable to tolerate
beauty?
The beauty in form of a plant or animal is not
made less but more apparent as a whole by
more accurate insight into its constituent
properties and powers
-
Wordsworth
At least 50% maybe 70% of the
world lives on staple crops, such
as wheat, grown with fertilisers
made by the Haber–Bosch
process.
Imagine the benefits of but one
holy grail of GM technology –
wheat that can fix its own
nitrogen.
vega presentation.ppt
Politicians and Students
Some Problems
• Attitude to Science of some very
influential people - eg politicians
• Attitude to Science of students
• Attitude of some in the Arts
• Attitude to Science of the Media
In the San Francisco a few
years ago I saw a beaten up old
Volvo with a bumper sticker
which said...
Not all those who wander are lost
J R R Tolkien
By language I do not mean just our
spoken language but also mathematics,
formulae in science, musical sounds,
colour in art and patterns and rhythms
poetry.
Without these various languages, elegant
patterns of all kinds remain hidden and
we remain ignorant and never realise our
full potential as creative human beings.
By our Universe I mean not only Nature
and the Physical world - the stars in the
sky, life, fundamental particles - but also
all manifestations of our Universe
including, in particular, our amazing
brains.
Language
Language - in all its forms - is the key to
unlocking the mysteries and beauty of
our Universe.