The Creative Life of Nature

The story of Ernst Haeckel, a fascinating figure in the world of late-19th century biology.

This bio tells of his love for art, how that pulled him away from science, and how eventually he learned to integrate the two. It reminds me, in a way, of the story of William James. James' first professional education was as a painter; he apprenticed with William Morris Hunt, before deciding to pursue science (in medical training and research).

What is the relationship between science and art? "Pure" science studies the beauty that nature creates. Science could be call "art appreciation" writ large, were it not that in our culture "art appreciation" sounds like a trivial pursuit.

Human art is our attempt to make our own intentional contribution to nature's beauty, to participate in nature's creative life. As such, all our paintings and drawings, all our novels and stories, all our music, etc., are the smallest fraction of a fraction of the creative work of nature. This is an important perspective to take when judging the relationship between science and art. It is understandable that we disproportionately value our intentional creations, but in doing so we risk missing a lot. Particularly when the worlds of art and science are set in opposition, rather than seen as facets of the same project in the way that Haeckel came to see them.