Arts in the Sciences, Sciences in the Arts

There’s no way an artist can be a scientist, and a scientist can be an artist.

That was the notion that I understood when I was still taking my high school, even college science classes. What was understood by my fragile mind is that these two dynamic fields are universes apart, and that one field can hardly cross the other. So there is no way that a scientist can incorporate arts into his scientific pursuits, and vice versa.

But as I mature in the world of sciences, I came across books with beautiful illustrations, science films that documented how seeds sprout with highly attractive cinematic techniques, and wildlife photographs that brought me through my imagination into the great plains of Africa and into the deep world of the Pacific Ocean. Those are scientific materials, effectively presented to various groups of people across the planet. Thanks to the talents of illustrators, filmmakers, and photographers.

Now I am a biology teacher, teaching various topics in the life sciences. And it so happened that I developed a taste of photography and filmmaking. Then one day, our university held a seminar on the concepts of the whole-brain approach to teaching. There I realized that people will have tendencies to use only half of the brain’s capacity. Researches on brain traced that the artistic potentials of a person is greatly controlled by the right hemisphere, while the left hemisphere is for the analytic (and scientific) capacities.

So, do we really need the arts in the sciences? Do we need science in the arts? Yes and yes.

Let us first discuss the first question. I have already mentioned some examples of artistic works conveying science. But to elaborate more, let us consider using some arts, not merely for entertainment purposes but for scientific research. One example is the use of slow-motion (slo-mo) films to derive some mathematical equations on a particular movement of an object or living organism. Understanding how slow-motion works, is vital for this particular research. In this type of research, cinematic concepts (frame rate, aperture, lights, etc.) must be understood to obtain maximum amount of data. Another great example is coming from the award-winning film ‘Chasing Ice’ where photography was used to monitor the calving of glaciers in various regions. Other researches whose data can be obtained via arts are wildlife monitoring, biodiversity assessment, taxonomy, and astronomy, to name a few.

For the second question, science in arts were already practiced centuries before. Great paintings of Michelangelo and da Vinci all were results of careful use of symmetry and perspectives. Classical music composed by great musicians such as Bach, Beethoven, Vivaldi and Mozart, all have mathematical foundations. In our modern world, brand designs and product packaging, all have touches of sciences. They say that logos and designs are more effective in attracting people if designers invoke the principles of the Fibonacci sequence in their creative works.

I consider that the arts is the language of science that people can easily understand. We must remember that science exist because there is a society. And that this society needs to be informed of the activities of science. And it is the arts that will serve as one of the instruments that bridge the society to the truth.

They say that the sciences allow the progress of humanity. While the arts constantly remind us that we are all humans. So the merging of the two may lead to a more humanistic approach to the sciences. Pulchritodo et Veritas.

This is Edward Opena’s Klassrum. #NeverStopLearning