I attended a play recently that put Einstein and Picasso in conversation in a bistro in Paris. The play is “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” by Steve Martin. Besides being hilarious the conversation between these two towering forces in our society shows that the two of them, while seemingly at opposite ends of the human spectrum, are really doing exactly the same thing. They just use a different language to express themselves. Picasso uses lines that are free flowing and create visual images. Einstein uses lines that are in the shape of letters and numbers that also create images but which are not so visual.
Well, I had to read more. So I bought several books on the subject and am starting through the first one – “Art & Physics – Parallel Visions in Space, Time and Light” by Leonard Shlain. I must say, it is a fascinating read. I’ve only made it through two chapters so far which takes us through the classical Greeks. But already there’s a quotation I’d like to share with you.
“Art and physics… are an integrated duality: they are simply two different but complementary facets of a single description of the world. Integrating art and physics will kindle a more synthesized awareness which begins in wonder and ends with wisdom.
~Leonard Shlain
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