Leonardo da Vinci is considered a genius for combining art and science. But how usual is this for us mere mortals? Can science and art sucessfully inform each other?
We’ll hear how the insights of French writer Marcel Proust anticipated modern neuroscience. Also, a debate over the evolutionary function of art. Does it have survival value? We meet a robot whose painting talents have garnered it a job in one of America’s top museums. And, hear - or don’t hear - why some of our relatives don’t monkey around with music. Guests:
* Jonah Lehrer - science journalist, editor-at-large, Seed magazine and author of Proust Was a Neuroscientist
* David Sloan Wilson - evolutionary biologist at Binghamton University, and author of Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin’s Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives
* Ellen Dissanayake - independent scholar and author of Art and Intimacy: How the Arts Began
* Leonel Moura - conceptual artist
http://podcast.seti.org/episodes/Science_and_Art_Worlds_Apart_