C.P.
Snow originally suggested that a person could either be an artist or scientist,
but not both. He stated, “I believe the intellectual life of the whole western
society is increasingly split into two polar groups…Literary intellectuals at
one pole – at the other scientists” (Snow 4). However this is not always the
case; Renaissance men had a wide range of knowledge and skills. Below are some
pictures that show the diversity of Leonardo Da Vinci’s work, such as the Mona
Lisa, the Vitruvian Man, and his invention of a “flying machine”.
At
the time, it was uncommon for one to only be a scientist or only be an artist.
However, after the Industrial Revolution, we saw a separation of the two. Furthermore,
as technology progressed, scientists became more specialized in their fields in
order to make new innovations, thus making it more difficult to also be knowledgeable
in the arts.
UCLA has a division within its
undergraduate body – south campus and north campus. South campus encompasses
the mathematics and sciences, while north campus encompasses the arts and
humanities. Below is a picture showing this division, where the orange region
is south campus, and the yellow region is north campus.
However,
some people believe that instead of there needing to be a bridge connecting the two cultures, a new
culture can be defined where “contemporary scientists are the third culture”
(Vesna 122). The third culture consists of people who are both artists and
scientists. I think the popularity of this culture experiences fluctuations
throughout time. During times when technology and medicine progress, the third
culture is less popular and the division between the other two cultures is
stronger. During times when culture is rich such as the Renaissance era, the
third intellectual group becomes more prominent.
References
"Flying
Machine." Leonardo Da Vinci's Invention. InventHelp. Web. 1 Apr.
2015. <http://www.da-vinci-inventions.com/flying-machine.aspx>.
"Leonardo's
Vitruvian Man." The Vitruvian Man. Stanford University. Web. 1 Apr.
2015.
<http://leonardodavinci.stanford.edu/submissions/clabaugh/history/leonardo.html>.
"UCLA
Vending Machines Locations." Vending Machine Locations. UCLA, 1
Jan. 2001. Web. 1 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.vending.ucla.edu/housing_site/vending/vendmap.htm>.
Snow,
C.P. "Two Cultures and The Scientific Revolution." Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge. 1959.
Vesna,
Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being In Between." Leonardo
34.2 (2001): 122. Print.
Hi Cory!
ReplyDeleteAwesome blog! I think you're right, it's important to remember that it is always completely possible to be well trained in both the arts and sciences and the two are no necessarily so separate, but that Industrialization has played a role in creating this divide. When we think about jobs or careers now, it's hard to think about one that integrates both art and science, and so naturally in college it doesn't make much sense to study both with the same intensity.
I see that you are a chemical engineering major, and it is astonishing that you will only take 4 courses in the arts and humanities, and I am assuming that you are doing so to fulfill a GE requirement.
So I guess my question is, do you wish you had more time to take more art and humanities based courses?
Hi Caroline,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment! Yes I am taking those 4 courses to fulfill GE requirements. Being in engineering for four years, I realize that I have lost a lot of knowledge and skills related to the humanities that I gained in high school. In that sense, I wish I could take some more of those types of classes to gain a more broad education. However, if I were to take more than the required classes for my major, I would be at UCLA for more than 4 years. Also, when I take GE classes, I sometimes feel like they take away time that I could spend on my chemE classes.