ART OR SCIENCE?

One of the eternal questions that the human psyche has found pleasure in
debating Art !as probably the "rst form in !hich the human mind found a !ay
of letting loose its creati#e talents The stro$es made !ith linseed oil% natural
pigments% roc$s% pencils% paint brushes and countless other tools are su&cient
substantiation to the fact that people ha#e al!ays loo$ed to!ards the
can#as'!hate#er form it may be in( to #oice their feelings% thoughts and state of
mind
Science on the other hand has gi#en people enlightenment about the !orld )e
no! understand !hy an apple% or rather% anything falls% because of Ne!ton )e
can comprehend the e#olution of species o!ing to *ar!in The platform on !hich
you are reading my humble article is probably an amalgamation of the !or$ of
more than a fe! scienti"c personnel In short% science has mo#ed the !orld
for!ard and probably al!ays !ill '+eah% you can probably guess I,m a science
student(
Art and science% thus% both stand pretty high in the modern society% in terms of
importance and interest among people -ut the human species lo#es a good
debate and hence% the topic initiated at the head of this article comes up Art or
Science? )hich holds a higher hand? And !hich should a student choose to
pursue?
The ans!er coming to most of us is probably .It,s his/her choice0 1uite true -ut
then again for the sa$e of a good old fashioned debate% let us consider t!o
students% one of Science% the other of Art% in dispute regarding the superiority of
their respecti#e "elds of study
A 2 So% science eh?
S 3 +es% I do% and !ith ample reason too *o your paintings e4plain ho! the earth
re#ol#es? Or !hy you,re standing and not 5oating? I don,t thin$ so
A 3 6aybe not -ut I certainly don,t belie#e that a formula for the Earth,s
gra#itation or any of the other scienti"c stu7 !ould e#er be an e4pression for the
creati#ity of man +ou simply disco#er !hat,s already there )e gi#e a #oice to
feelings To the inner thoughts of man Through our paintings and sculptures
E#en the tall s$yscrapers are our creations
S 3 I beg to di7er 8o! !ould you build the s$yscrapers if !e didn,t plan them?
Or ho! !ould you paint if !e hadn,t formulated the pigments for the colours? I
don,t !ish to gi#e a monologue about it but face it +ou are incomplete !ithout
science
A 3 Are !e? *id 6ichelangelo need science to paint the Sistine Chapel? Or did
9icasso consult the scientists before creating :uernica? Or did da ;inci<
S 3 'stops A mid!ay( I $ne! da ;inci !ould come into your argument sooner or
later *a ;inci !as painter and sculptor all right% but he de"nitely !as also a
mathematician% engineer and in#entor 8is ideas for 5ying machines and the li$e
!ere re#olutionary right?
A 3 8e ne#er managed to bring any of his in#entions to life Although his
sketches of 5ying machines% calculators% double hulled ships are still found%
science !as behind him *a ;inci the artist and thin$er !as al!ays ahead of da
;inci the scientist It al!ays has been that !ay% my friend I,ll gi#e you another
e4ample of !hy science !ill remain restricted Suppose you,re doing a pro=ect on
6echanics Ob#iously you need to do e#erything con"ned !ithin Ne!ton,s la!s
of motion% correct?
S 3 I suppose so
A 3 No! if I !ere to use my can#as to paint something or sculpt a statue out of
marble% I !ouldn,t need to paint e4actly as Raphael did or sculpt !ith the same
stro$es as 6ichelangelo no!% !ould I? I ha#e the freedom of e4pression that you
do not
S 3 That,s a good point you ma$e there% my friend% but ans!er me this In today,s
!orld% it is almost certain that !e must combat #ices li$e global !arming and the
li$e And may e#en ha#e to "nd life else!here in the uni#erse )hen the time
comes% and the Earth needs to be cared for% I don,t belie#e art !ould pro#ide too
many useful solutions It,s science that gi#es us options of using cleaner sources
of energy or "nds habitable planets li$e >epler ??b #ery recently
)ell% their debate !ill probably ne#er end I,d rather not ta$e up much more of
your time% but !ill put the question to you
The creati#ity% grandeur and liberty of art? Or the mechanisms% $no!ledge and
futuristic planning of science?