Poetry is beautiful, but science is what matters
09 Feb 09
Oxford Online Debates continue today (Monday 9 February) with the launch of the latest discussion, entitled ‘Poetry is beautiful, but science is what matters'.
The topic will be proposed by Professor Peter Atkins, of Lincoln College and the Department of Chemistry, and opposed by Dr Peter McDonald, of Christ Church and the Faculty of English Language and Literature.
Peter Atkins was an Oxford professor of Chemistry and fellow of Lincoln College until his retirement in 2007. He researched the application of quantum mechanics to chemical problems and theoretical aspects of magnetic resonance. He has written more than 60 books, the best known of which is Physical Chemistry, which became an instant best seller and will shortly be published in its ninth edition.
Since 1999, Peter McDonald has been Christopher Tower Student and Tutor in Poetry at Christ Church. The author of major critical works, including Mistaken Identities: Poetry and Northern Ireland and Serious Poetry: Form and Authority from Yeats to Hill, he has also published four volumes of poems, most recently The House of Clay. He is one of the best-known contemporary commentators on poetry, and publishes regularly on the subject in national newspapers.
The debate will be moderated by Professor Sally Shuttleworth, Head of Humanities Division. Professor Shuttleworth is also a Professor in the English Faculty. She has worked throughout her career on the inter-relations between literature and science, primarily in the Victorian period, but also in contemporary times. Her books include George Eliot and Nineteenth-Century Science and Charlotte Brontë and Victorian Psychology.
The public can view the debate and post comments at www.ox.ac.uk/debates and it will conclude with a public vote between 2-6 March.