The American Chemist Roald Hoffmann Compares Sciences to Arts in a Seminar at the BA
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Alexandria—
The BA organized a very distinguished seminar on Monday, 19 March 2007, entitled "One culture: Communalities and Differences between the Arts and the Sciences", by Prof. Roald Hoffman, an American theoretical chemist who won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The seminar was chaired by Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Library of Alexandria.
Hoffman expressed delight at being at the BA, a center of excellence that recaptures the spirit of the past. He then moved to speak on points of communalities and differences between the arts and sciences. He said that C.P. Snow postulated a rift between scientists and engineers on one hand and humanists and artist on the other. The views that each side has of the other are shaped by their ignorance and intolerance and inability to communicate.
Hoffman thinks that what unites the arts and sciences is that both are objects of human creation, they are synthetic, artificial, and unnatural. Despite the popular belief that the arts are more natural than sciences, as poet himself, he thinks there is nothing natural about a poem.
Hoffman sees that objects of human creation are admired if they are executed with craftsmanship, attention to detail, and economy. The act of communication is obviously crucial in the arts and the sciences. There is an underlying aesthetic and philosophy to both the arts and sciences, which is the desire to understand the world around us.
He gave two examples: one from the world of science, and the other from the world of poetry. He showed the audience a draft of "the table of elements of Mandeliev" full of corrections to prove that scientific creations are produced through a complete process, and not a result of inspiration. He presented a draft of William Blake's masterpiece "The Tyger", showing plenty of alterations. Both stories illustrate that both scientists and artists are in a struggle to understand the world.
About differences between sciences and arts, Hoffman said science seems to be in search for universals, which is very different from the way the humanities function. In science, ambiguity is of no value what so ever, whereas in poetry for example it is very much appreciated when a word means two things and sounds like ten more.