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Leonuvdo, Vol. 2, pp. 73-78. Pergamon Press 1969. Printedin Great Britain SCIENCE I S AN ART* Franqois Le Lionnaist I I would not like the title of this essay to be misinterpreted . It isdefinitelynot anattempt to claim that the arts are sciences or that art is science. It is quite the opposite idea that I propose to discuss, as the reader will clearly see. I do not intend, either, to deal with the complex and fascinating relations linking the sciencesand the arts, which are irrelevant here. What I intend is to persuade, if not to prove, that science is an art like painting, architecture or music. Indeed, it would be hardly any exaggeration and certainly nojest on my part to maintain that there should be a discipline of the aesthetics of science. Basic scienceshould not be confused with applied science. (Thereisalmost asmuch differencebetween the one and the other as there is between musical composition and violin making.) Science is not concerned with the discovery or creation of beauty; it seeks only the truth. But science, for better or worse, is pursued by men-and the achievement of its ideals, as in all human activity-be it humble, moderate or great-cannot be attained in a climate completely devoid of emotion. The result is that, though science does not in any way aim to become an art, an art it inevitably is. I claim an aestheticsof science to be justifiable and I go so far as to believe that it merits being taken into consideration by aestheticians. I1 Just what circumstances determine the birth of scientificthought? I seetwo forces; curiosity, which drives one on toward discovery, and a love o f play (gofitdejeu) or sheer enjoyment of the game itself, which encourages inventive thought. These two driving forces, neither completely independent one from another, appear to me to function overall in the same manner in the scientist and in the artist. They stimulate the scientific research worker and inducehim to work along certain lines. They are not in themselves science, but merely the rustling which attends its coming. *Based on a talk deliveredbeforethe Academiedes Beaux Arts, Paris, France on 23 February 1966. Translated by GeorgeAgoston and PaulineBentley-Koffler. ?President of the Association of French ScienceWriters, 23 Route de la Reine, 92 Boulogne sur Seine, France. (Received 9 March 1968.) There are fewmen less blast%than scientistsin the fields where they excel. Everything interests the scientist and often one does not have to look far to find the sources of his enthusiasm. A scientist finds challenge and food for thought in all the aspects of the human environment, every moment of each day. If we do not respond as he does to these challenges, which surround us all the time in just the same way, it is because we lack the responsiveness which characterizes scientists and artists. Everyoneiscontinually surrounded by objectsand phenomena. For example, there are certain objects which I can touch and others which I cannot reach. Some, like a table, are hard; that is to say, they do not permit easy penetration. Others, such as the atmosphere, are fluid and seem scarcely to exist. Is the subtle air, which envelops man, infinitely light? Why does a pencil, if I liftit a smalldistance and then release it, fall as far as the table beneath it? And why does it stop there? Is it not amazing that I can communicate my thoughts to you in this essay? What is sound ? What islight? What is their precise structure? I have never turned on a light switch in a darkened room without the sudden flood of light releasing in me an undeniable emotion, the impression almost of having witnessed a miracle. Suppose I hold a glass in my hand. Why is it transparent? Is not this transparency an extraordinary , baffling mystery? If the glass is filled with water and a lump of sugar is added, the sugar disappears in a few moments. How is this possible? All such phenomena, common place for ordinary mortals, appear extraordinary to scientists. But sciencedoes not have a monopoly of this attitude. It characterizes an entire family of works of art: the aesthetics of Carravaggio, of the ‘Night...

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