Tom McLeish in conversation with Kirsten Shepherd-Barr on The Poetry and Music of Science
What human qualities are needed to make scientific discoveries, and which to make great art? Many would point to 'imagination' and 'creativity' in the second case but not the first. Tom McLeish challenges the assumption that doing science is in any way less creative than art, music or fictional writing and poetry, and treads a path through common territories of the creative process, weaving the supposed ‘two cultures’ together.
Tom McLeish is Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of York where he works with chemists, engineers and biologists in universities and industry to connect material properties with their molecular structure. He also works on connections between science and policy, history, and the humanities, and has previously published on the relationship between science and religious faith.
Kirsten Shepherd-Barr is Professor of English at St Catherine’s College, Oxford, whose research interests include the interaction between theatre and science, and the relationship between modernism and theatrical performance.
Contact details for event
Blackwell's Bookshop
01865 792792
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