A Chemist's Odyssey Bridges The Two Cultures Of Art And Science

Charles H. Carpenter Jr. likes to talk and write about "The Two Cultures"—the 1959 lecture and, later, the small book by the late British novelist and scientist C. P. Snow. "G P. Snow contended that a gulf separated the scientific and literary-humanistic worlds in Great Britain and, by extension, the rest of the industrialized West," Carpenter has written. "To me, however, it appears obvious that there is a close relationship between art and science. The best artists and the best scientists are alike concerned with expanding the boundaries of knowledge." But, with a twinkle in his eyes, Carpenter adds in a conversation with a visitor, "A lot of serious scientists think art deals in trivialities. They think it can't possibly be as serious as their science. But I find artists are just as dedicated and caring—and with the same one-track minds—as scientists." Carpenter should know. A chemist by both education and vocation, he has spent ...