“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.”
– Albert Einstein
Crystals of a common painkiller Paracetamol (Panadol/ Panacod). Microscope image, photographed in polarized light.
able to share their discoveries with a diverse world, where different languages and cultures meant a lack of standardisation. Also, in times when only those from scholarly, religious or aristocratic backgrounds were literate, illustration played a key role in the sharing of information. Thus, images played - and still play - a vital role in science as the most compelling method to present information. Albeit that modern data visualisation techniques have rendered intricately drawn depictions of past centuries from a by-product of cataloguing to a recognised art form. Appropriately, given that it is the result of scientific and technological advancement, photography (and image reproduction in a wider sense) is to this day the most prolific way to document and display information. It is one of the earliest examples of how science and art merge; a creative route to exhibit and impart knowledge. We can now see elements of science bridge the divide and become an art form. Just as great works of art hang in galleries, now so do beautiful x-ray compositions and photographs. These bold new pieces of art have found a home on the walls of universities, homes and galleries, becoming increasingly popular. The choices are limitless when it comes to science as an art form, from simple wildlife photography to new ways to show data sets.
learning, and each dulled by the absence of the other.
Some may be surprised to learn that many accomplished scientists throughout the ages were also accomplished artists, from Samuel Morse to Leonardo da Vinci, who not only authored the one of the world’s most notorious masterpieces ‘Mona Lisa’, but also furthered studies in anatomy, engineering and botany. History has, however, seen the ties between the two disciplines change and fade. The rise of scientific methodology saw a shift away from the importance of the visualisation of data and instead focused on the understanding of complex information delivered to specialised audiences, and from there the rift has grown wider. But take into consideration Albert Einstein, one of the world most well-regarded thinkers, who claimed that “The greatest scientists are artists as well”. Both scientists and artists require the ability to take a message and share it with people all over the world. The way the message is spread and its goal is what inextricably unites science and the arts. By going back and examining older studies on botany, zoology and anatomy we can see that scientists needed to be great artists in order to be
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