Week 1 - Two Cultures

This week's material gave an outlook that I had not yet quite considered with the ideas of art and science. Given the major difference between art and science itself, Snow shares literary intellectuals with scientists, "Between the two a gulf of mutual incomprehension-sometimes... hostility and dislike, but most of all lack of understanding" (Snow 4). It is interesting to see Snow's argument about two polar opposite groups, whereas I would not necessarily think of the division that art and science have created. The perspective of C.P. Snow's article "The Two Cultures and The Scientific Revolution" is within the title itself. There was a division within the "two cultures" and their way of solving problems of the world. 

(Lifeology)

I thought this image was a good depiction of what Snow was referring to with the division of these two groups. The way Snow makes the distinction between scientists and "non-scientists" based on the "individuals experience and the social experience" (Snow 6) and their condition alludes to the differences in divisions of groups. 

While Snow highlights the importance of understanding and thinking through the division that Western society has split, Victoria Vesna suggests that these two cultures, "creates a triangle and promises the emergence of a third culture" (Vesna 121). Together, both of these work together in rather dividing literary intellectuals and scientists, to bring them together to effectively work with one another. 

(Albert Einstein)

Although I have never quite thought how closely scientists and literary intellectuals could collaborate, after reading both articles, it seems as if bringing them together could create a space for a better understanding of the community. Rather than creating stereotypes about each group, like we see firsthand at UCLA with North and South campuses, working together could create a stable and positive environment. 

(Prime from The Daily Bruin)

Bibliography:  

Dizikes, Peter. Our Two Cultures. The New York Times, 19 Mar. 2009, https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/books/review/Dizikes-t.html.

Davis, Madison. UCLA's North V. South Campus: The Debate Debunked. Odyssey, 30 Sept. 2015, https://www.theodysseyonline.com/north-south-campus.

Kevles, Bettyann Holtzmann. The Interplay of Art and Science. Scientific American, 1 May 2007, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-interplay-of-art-and-science/.

Miller, Jon D. Scientific Literacy: A Conceptual and Empirical Review, vol. 112, 1983, pp. 29–48.

Snow, C.p. (Charles Percy). The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1959

Vesna, Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between." Leonardo, vol 34, no.2, 2001, pp. 121-125

Photos:

https://lifeology.io/blog/2020/04/02/choosing-art-science-or-both/

https://prime.dailybruin.com/justinnorth&southcampus

https://www.azquotes.com/quote/844500