Poetry is beautiful, but science is what matters
Moderator: Professor Sally Shuttleworth
Sally Shuttleworth is Head of the Humanities Division at the University of Oxford and a Professor in the English Faculty.
Proposer: Professor Peter Atkins
Peter Atkins was an Oxford professor of chemistry and fellow of Lincoln College until his retirement in 2007.
Opposer: Dr Peter McDonald
Peter McDonald is the Christopher Tower Student and Tutor in Poetry at Christ Church, Oxford.
Opening statements - 09 Feb 09
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Professor Sally Shuttleworth
This debate takes place fifty years after C. P. Snow's famous lecture in 1959 on ... read more
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Professor Peter Atkins
All poetry is beautiful, and all science matters. Even the poetry that does not posse... read more
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Dr Peter McDonald
Poetry is not beautiful – not all of it, not all of the time, and not just beau... read more
Update 1
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12 Feb 09
Professor Peter Atkins
At this stage of our debate I shall direct my remarks solely towards the contribution... read more
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16 Feb 09
Dr Peter McDonald
Many scientists are productively interested in consciousness, and poets too have foun... read more
Update 2
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19 Feb 09
Professor Peter Atkins
In this update I shall let my Opponent rest his horse and concentrate instead on some... read more
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23 Feb 09
Dr Peter McDonald
Let's say that I don’t want to pull Professor Atkins' leg, but to remov... read more
Closing statements - 26 Feb 09
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Professor Peter Atkins
My challenge is to bring you to my side when so many hearts are ranged against me.&nb... read more
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Dr Peter McDonald
As a proposition, "Poetry is beautiful, but science is what matters" is ser... read more
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Professor Sally Shuttleworth
The debate has been fiercely fought, and engaging; commentators have weighed in with ... read more
For
37.6%
Results
Against
62.4%
The next debate will take place in Trinity Term 2009. If you have an
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Your comments
The Subject of poetic expressions transcends the objects of science
Tim | 19 May 09
Poetry, in its highest and most haughty office, is concerned with the very thing...
Physics and Metaphysics
Sammy Jay | 13 Mar 09
Scientists allow us to live, artists make life worth living.
A smart debate
Macao | 12 Mar 09
Your metaphors are excellent ! I like this style of illumination.and of...
science
sindhiya junejo | 10 Mar 09
though i agree on this that poetry is all which natural but then itx no...
to summarise..
Rebekah | 09 Mar 09
It is perhaps true to say that science inspires, at least some, poetry whereas...