Alan Lightman visits Adams State (10-07-05)
Award-winning author and scientist Alan Lightman answers questions during a reading of his book "Einstein's Dreams" Oct. 6.
The similarities and differences between artists and scientists are important aspects of being human, an award-winning author said at Adams State College Oct. 6.
"Both the novelist and the scientist are seeking truth, and both ultimately must be tested by experiment," said Alan Lightman, an adjunct professor of humanities at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Lightman, who has had several novels and essays published, said he fell in love with science and the arts at an early age.
"Since I was a child, my passions have been divided on these two ways of looking at the world," he said. "Both are parts of being human." Lightman said as a novelist, he is intrigued by the power of language, which can't be explained by science.
"How can marks on a white sheet of paper convey such power and force?" he asked the approximately 200 people who attended his lecture, At the Crossroads of Art and Science, in Carson Auditorium at Adams State. "By magic, words could create scenes and emotions."
Lightman said he is also inspired by the scientific process and mathematics. "I loved the shining purity of mathematics, the certainty of mathematics," he said. "The area of a circle is pi-r-squared, period, no debate."
Lightman said the differences in the way artists and scientists view the world help complete the process of understanding.
"The scientist tries to name things, the artist tries not to name things," Lightman said. "It's a great comfort, a feeling of power and control to be able to name things."
Lightman said for a novelist, naming the human experience is often difficult, and can be detrimental to the craft.
"Every electron is identical, but every love is different," he said. "There is an intrinsic ambiguity to human nature."
Lightman said scientists tend to focus on questions that have definite answers, but artists focus on questions with elusive answers.
"When I was a graduate student, I was taught not to waste time on a problem that didn't have a definite answer," he said. "For artists, the question is more important than the answer."
Lightman visited Adams State as part of the college's Autumn @ Adams Homecoming celebration.
"I'm delighted Adams State has such a strong presence in the arts," he said. "We can't have either science or art alone."
By Sean Weaver
