logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2023
49m 19s

How Art and Science Intersect

NPR
About this episode
We often think of art and science as existing in different — even opposite — spheres. One revolves around creativity and imagination; the other around observable facts and data — and never the twain shall meet.But really, art and science aren't as far apart as we might think. For centuries, artists have drawn on the natural sciences, and the wonders of the natural world, as inspiration for some of our most celebrated works.On this episode, we explore the hidden architecture of science that often underlies music, literature, and more. We talk with a mathematician who makes the case that math is key to appreciating literature on a whole new level; a pianist who reveals how the natural world inspired some of classical music's most iconic composers; and an artist whose work on water blurs the lines between art, ecology, and activism.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
Up next
Aug 21
Back to School in a Rapidly Changing World
It’s back-to-school time, which, for millions of families across the country, means a return to bedtimes, shopping for school supplies, and frantic efforts by kids to finish their summer reading. On this episode, we explore how our fast-changing world is transforming learning and ... Show More
49m 30s
Aug 15
How Scientists Discovered Legionnaires' Disease
In the summer of 1976, when 2,000 people came to Philadelphia for a national convention of the American Legion, a strange illness gripped hundreds of attendees, and more than 30 people died. Symptoms included cough, shortness of breath, and fever. Was it a virus, bacteria, some s ... Show More
26m 32s
Aug 14
Protecting the People Who Grow Our Food
Farming is a tough gig — physically, and mentally. And it’s only gotten harder in recent years, with the impact of climate change and a shifting political and economic landscape. On this episode, we explore the connection between farming and health, and how these new challenges a ... Show More
49m 34s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2023
Vid Simoniti, "Artists Remake the World: A Contemporary Art Manifesto" (Yale UP, 2023)
Artists Remake the World: A Contemporary Art Manifesto (Yale UP, 2023) puts forward an account of contemporary art’s political ambitions and potential. Surveying such innovations as evidence-driven art, socially engaged art, and ecological art, the book explores how artists have ... Show More
58m 51s
Jul 2012
Science v Art
Brian Cox and Robin Ince transport the cage of infinite proportions, to the slightly more confined space of the Latitude Comedy Arena. They will be joined on stage by a panel of guests, including Al Murray, for a witty, irreverent and unashamedly rational look at the world accord ... Show More
27m 55s
Dec 2024
From physics to filmmaking: Mark Levinson on his new documentary, The Universe in a Grain of Sand
Towards a unified vision of nature, humans and machines 
1 h
Dec 2024
Renée Bergland, "Natural Magic: Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, and the Dawn of Modern Science" (Princeton UP, 2024)
Emily Dickinson and Charles Darwin were born at a time when the science of studying the natural world was known as natural philosophy, a pastime for poets, priests, and schoolgirls. The world began to change in the 1830s, while Darwin was exploring the Pacific aboard the Beagle a ... Show More
1h 6m
May 8
How Art Heals Us
We explore how making art can ground us in the present and be a space of healing, connection, and joy.Summary: We explore how creative expression can support emotional resilience and physical healing in the face of life’s hardest moments and how simple acts of art-making— whether ... Show More
23m 31s
Sep 2023
Bryan Rennie, "An Ethology of Religion and Art: Belief as Behavior" (Routledge, 2020)
Drawing from sources including the ethology of art and the cognitive science of religion, An Ethology of Religion and Art: Belief as Behavior (Routledge, 2020) proposes an improved understanding of both art and religion as behaviors developed in the process of human evolution. Lo ... Show More
1h 8m
Jul 2022
Ed Yong and Liz Neeley: They Have Storytelling Down to a Science
Stars in the field of science communication, they know how to make the rest of us want to learn about something we don’t think we care about. They even creatively inspire each other. 
42m 54s
May 15
How Did Geometry Create Modern Physics?
Geometry is one of the oldest disciplines in human history, yet the worlds it can describe extend far beyond its original use. What began thousands of years ago as a way to measure land and build pyramids was given rigor by Euclid in ancient Greece, became applied to curves and s ... Show More
46m 8s
Nov 2012
Improbable Science
Brian Cox and Robin Ince discuss some of the more unlikely and odd avenues of research travelled down in the name of science. For example, the British physicist who calculated the optimal way to dunk a biscuit into a cup of tea without it disintegrating too quickly. Or the brain ... Show More
28m 2s
Jan 2024
Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Kandinsky was an artist, teacher and art theorist in the early 20th century. His work was very influential in the development of modern, abstract art. He was likely able to paint differently because he experienced the world differently. Kandinsky is thought to have had a ... Show More
9m 6s