week 1

There is definitely a divide between the “two worlds” of science and art. This social construction of the separation between the two fields has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.

CP Snow

Charles Percy Snow discussed this separation in 1959 during his lecture titled “Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution”. In high school, people were grouped into categories, as they are in college. There were the “artsy” kids who did art, theater and English and those that focused on sciences and math. In high school, there was some overlap because it was required of students to take both art classes as well as science classes. At UCLA, there are still requirements to take classes in both the arts and the science, but not nearly as many as in high school, furthering the division between the two worlds.  In addition, at UCLA the campus is divided based with the math and sciences on the south side of campus and the humanities and arts on the north side of campus. The modern education system is only furthering this division.

Map of UCLA

Charles Percy Snow was an author as well as a physicist. His professions bridged the two worlds of

Snow bridging the "two worlds"

arts and science, proving that they do not really need to be divided. There was the common idea that brain is divided into the right side, the artistic and creative side of the brain, and the left side, which is the scientific and more logical side of the brain. In reality, brain wiring is far more complex which makes sense because people are not really only artistic or only logical.

Scientists have to be creative and think outside of the box in order to invent something new. And on the other hand, artists must also be logical. For example they must follow a plan when making pottery in order to achieve the best piece like first wedging the clay to remove all air bubbles, and must also use slip when combining pieces of clay so that they do not break off when being fired.

Wedging

Slip

I enjoy art and would consider myself an artistic person, but at the same time, like Snow, I am also very much a “left-brained” person. I make lists and am very logical. I also take an interest in sciences and find them appealing. I think that the division between the two worlds is so strong because people make excuses when they aren’t good at certain things, but I think it is important to be well rounded and close this gap between the “two worlds.”

Left and Right Brain

Works Cited

Editors of the Encyclopedia Brittanica. "C.P. Snow | Biography - British Scientist and Writer." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2015. 

Krauss, Lawrence M. "An Update on C. P. Snow's "Two Cultures"" Scientific American Global RSS. Scientific American, 17 Aug. 2009. Web. 05 Apr. 2015. 

Snow, Charles P. "The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution." The Rede Lecture. Cambridge University, New York. 1959. UCOnline Desma9. Web. 5 Apr. 2015. 

Vesna, Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between." JSTOR. JSTOR, 2001. Web. 5 Apr. 2015. 

Wanjek, By Christopher. "Left Brain vs. Right: It's a Myth, Research Finds." LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 03 Sept. 2013. Web. 06 Apr. 2015.