Art/Science Double Threats?
September 29, 2011 10:20 PM Subscribe
Are there any Great Scientists who are also Great Artists? If not right now, who was the last person who comfortably fit in both categories?
For the purpose of this discussion, a Great Artist has produced museum quality work (or a great novel, or similar), and a Great Scientist has made at least one 'important' discovery or invention, however you want to define that.
As examples, there's Leonardo, of course. And more recently, Samuel Morse, who invented the telegraph and was also a painter.
As examples, there's Leonardo, of course. And more recently, Samuel Morse, who invented the telegraph and was also a painter.
Ben Franklin
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 10:25 PM on September 29, 2011
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 10:25 PM on September 29, 2011
I don't know if the actress Hedy Lamarr was really a Great Artist, but she was a big star, and she also invented frequency hopping.
posted by Nibbly Fang at 10:26 PM on September 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Nibbly Fang at 10:26 PM on September 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
Brian May is one of the great guitarists in rock history (inducted into Rock & Roll HoF, 2001), and has published in Nature.
posted by one_bean at 10:31 PM on September 29, 2011 [6 favorites]
posted by one_bean at 10:31 PM on September 29, 2011 [6 favorites]
Arthur C. Clarke notably conceived the geosynchronous communications satellite, and was a highly successful sci-fi novelist.
posted by richyoung at 10:31 PM on September 29, 2011
posted by richyoung at 10:31 PM on September 29, 2011
Borodin was both a composer and a chemist. Don't know about "great" exactly, but pretty good at both.
posted by Logophiliac at 10:42 PM on September 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Logophiliac at 10:42 PM on September 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
Greg Graffin from famous punk band Bad Religion is a geologist and well-known skeptic.
Milo Aukerman from Descendents is a biochemist
not exactly what you're talking about, but Mark Oliver Everett from band EELS made a documentary called Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives about his father, Hugh Everett III, originator of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum theory
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 10:47 PM on September 29, 2011
Milo Aukerman from Descendents is a biochemist
not exactly what you're talking about, but Mark Oliver Everett from band EELS made a documentary called Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives about his father, Hugh Everett III, originator of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum theory
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 10:47 PM on September 29, 2011
Richard Feynman's oratory and writing skills would classify him as a Great Artist, I would say. He was also an accomplished visual artist (working under the name Ofay, I think?), but I don't know if it would be considered museum quality if he wasn't Richard Feynman.
posted by Jairus at 10:50 PM on September 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Jairus at 10:50 PM on September 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
An examination of Nabokov as lepidopterist. Nabokov Theory on Butterfly Evolution Is Vindicated.
posted by Monsieur Caution at 10:57 PM on September 29, 2011 [6 favorites]
posted by Monsieur Caution at 10:57 PM on September 29, 2011 [6 favorites]
William Moulton Marston invented the lie detector. and Wonder Woman
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 10:58 PM on September 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 10:58 PM on September 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
Tom Eisner perhaps, he was a full bore etymologist and chemist, and then in his (brief, too brief )later life began composing for the digital scanner.
Monsieur Caution is spot on too.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 10:59 PM on September 29, 2011
Monsieur Caution is spot on too.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 10:59 PM on September 29, 2011
Oh, he also is quoted as saying he doesn't trust any scientist who isn't also a musician... which could imply there are many sub-great tiers of artists that are primarily great scientists.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 11:00 PM on September 29, 2011
posted by Cold Lurkey at 11:00 PM on September 29, 2011
whoops, I didn't see your mention of Leonardo... I ctrl-F'd "da Vinci"... which way's the door? that way? thanks.
posted by not_on_display at 11:02 PM on September 29, 2011
posted by not_on_display at 11:02 PM on September 29, 2011
William Blake invented relief etching
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 11:05 PM on September 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 11:05 PM on September 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
Beatrix Potter was an excellent botanist.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 11:15 PM on September 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 11:15 PM on September 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
Lewis Carrol was also a mathematician and published those works under another name, Chales Dogdeson IIRC?
posted by wowbobwow at 11:26 PM on September 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by wowbobwow at 11:26 PM on September 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
Carl Djerassi, "father" of oral contraceptives and writer.
posted by benzenedream at 11:55 PM on September 29, 2011
posted by benzenedream at 11:55 PM on September 29, 2011
Jonathon Miller is a pretty well regarded producer and director. He's also a licensed medical doctor and occasionally when he gets tired of the stage, he goes back into medical practice.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 12:15 AM on September 30, 2011
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 12:15 AM on September 30, 2011
Most of the early 19th century photographers would come under this banner, having to be simultaneous artists and chemists. Early photography was pioneer art and science all in one.
Henry Fox Talbot, for instance, or Muybridge.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 12:18 AM on September 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
Henry Fox Talbot, for instance, or Muybridge.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 12:18 AM on September 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
Many well-known science fiction writers happen to be scientists/mathematicians: David Brin, Robert Forward, and Vernor Vinge leap to mind.
But two that stand out as genuine double threats are Carl Sagan (Contact won a reputable SF award and resulted in a decent movie) and especially Fred Hoyle (The Black Cloud is a classic).
If you're looking for people whose fame is split 50/50 between art and science, Hoyle is a real contender.
posted by Monsieur Caution at 12:27 AM on September 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
But two that stand out as genuine double threats are Carl Sagan (Contact won a reputable SF award and resulted in a decent movie) and especially Fred Hoyle (The Black Cloud is a classic).
If you're looking for people whose fame is split 50/50 between art and science, Hoyle is a real contender.
posted by Monsieur Caution at 12:27 AM on September 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
Im a little surprised no one's mentioned Isaac Asimov yet.
posted by michswiss at 12:50 AM on September 30, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by michswiss at 12:50 AM on September 30, 2011 [3 favorites]
John James Audubon was a French-American ornithologist/painter, and his Birds of America is still widely regarded as a classic and is still in print.
posted by valkyryn at 12:53 AM on September 30, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by valkyryn at 12:53 AM on September 30, 2011 [4 favorites]
Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke were both involved in science and mathematics, as well as architecture.
posted by James Scott-Brown at 1:41 AM on September 30, 2011
posted by James Scott-Brown at 1:41 AM on September 30, 2011
Santiago Ramon y Cajal, who figured out that neurons have distinct inputs and outputs, and thus really made the first major steps in understanding the principles underlying the nervous system, and Camillo Golgi, who figured out how to do sparse staining of cells and made lots of anatomical insights, made progress via many, many, many beautiful illustrations of what they saw under the microscope. Their goal at the time certainly wasn't to be hung in a museum, but I think it's hard to argue that their drawings aren't sometimes stunning, and definitely required for their science: e.g. by Ramon y Cajal, and by Golgi. Might not be what you're going for, but an interesting example nonetheless.
posted by Schismatic at 2:13 AM on September 30, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by Schismatic at 2:13 AM on September 30, 2011 [3 favorites]
Humphry Davy wrote poetry well-regarded by his friends (who included Coleridge and Southey). And from an earlier generation, Erasmus Darwin (Charles' grandfather) was a physician, naturalist and poet.
posted by misteraitch at 2:50 AM on September 30, 2011
posted by misteraitch at 2:50 AM on September 30, 2011
And I just remembered Miroslav Holub - a Czech poet and immunologist.
posted by misteraitch at 3:15 AM on September 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by misteraitch at 3:15 AM on September 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
I believe Albert Einstein was an accomplished violinist, though I don't have the time to google up info about whether/to what extent he performed.
I learned this one day when I spent a long afternoon in the company of an elderly chemist, who had witnessed a lot of amazing things in his 60-some years in academia. He told me that he once sat in front of Einstein at the concert of a virtuosic violinist. Throughout the concert, Einstein would compare his own skills to the performer: "I can do that." "Oh, I couldn't do *that*."
posted by Sublimity at 3:28 AM on September 30, 2011
I learned this one day when I spent a long afternoon in the company of an elderly chemist, who had witnessed a lot of amazing things in his 60-some years in academia. He told me that he once sat in front of Einstein at the concert of a virtuosic violinist. Throughout the concert, Einstein would compare his own skills to the performer: "I can do that." "Oh, I couldn't do *that*."
posted by Sublimity at 3:28 AM on September 30, 2011
William Herschel - astronomer (discovered Uranus and infrared) and composer.
posted by monkey closet at 4:32 AM on September 30, 2011
posted by monkey closet at 4:32 AM on September 30, 2011
John Dunstable (composer) was also an astronomer and mathematician.
posted by monkey closet at 4:47 AM on September 30, 2011
posted by monkey closet at 4:47 AM on September 30, 2011
Piet Hein (1905–1996) wrote poems and did interesting work in mathematics, most notably geometry.
"The man who is only a poet is not even that." —Piet Hein
posted by Johnny Assay at 4:58 AM on September 30, 2011 [2 favorites]
"The man who is only a poet is not even that." —Piet Hein
posted by Johnny Assay at 4:58 AM on September 30, 2011 [2 favorites]
Gene Wolfe wasn't a scientist but had a successful engineering career. He invented the dingus that makes Pringles.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:01 AM on September 30, 2011
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:01 AM on September 30, 2011
Desmond Morris, zoologist and surrealist painter.
posted by ellenaim at 5:18 AM on September 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by ellenaim at 5:18 AM on September 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
His name is escaping me, but the painter who went on some of the British Antarctic expedition was a great scientist in his own right. His paintings (done free hand) of the Antarctic landscape would have the sun rays exactly positioned down to the degree in accuracy. GAH! I wish I could remember his name.. or if he was with Shackleton or Scott..
posted by raccoon409 at 5:53 AM on September 30, 2011
posted by raccoon409 at 5:53 AM on September 30, 2011
Richard Feynman was a commissioned artist who, I think, had work displayed in an art museum.
posted by thewestinggame at 5:58 AM on September 30, 2011
posted by thewestinggame at 5:58 AM on September 30, 2011
Roman Vishniac was an amazing biologist/photographer.
posted by JJ86 at 6:07 AM on September 30, 2011
posted by JJ86 at 6:07 AM on September 30, 2011
Brian Cox is the most obvious current example, if "Artist" can include "rock star".
posted by The Bellman at 6:46 AM on September 30, 2011
posted by The Bellman at 6:46 AM on September 30, 2011
Raymond Scott, jazz composer and inventor of the multitrack recorder.
posted by davejay at 9:03 AM on September 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by davejay at 9:03 AM on September 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
Primo Levi was a "real" scientist (and a "Great Artist"), but I suppose is not typically considered one of the "Great Scientists".
posted by lex mercatoria at 12:09 PM on September 30, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by lex mercatoria at 12:09 PM on September 30, 2011 [2 favorites]
Postdating your examples, but not as recent as some laready mentioned, is Gaudi for his novel and beautiful architectural incorporation of mathematical shapes found in nature.
posted by TooQuiet at 1:26 PM on September 30, 2011
posted by TooQuiet at 1:26 PM on September 30, 2011
Hedy Lamarr, who Nibbly Fang mentioned above as inventor of frequency-hopping spread-spectrum communication systems, did her work in collaboration with avant-garde composor George Antheil (whose compositions for multiple, synced player pianos provided some of the inspiration for their project).
Seconding, too, Muybridge, Dickson, and all the other early still and motion picture photographers.
Another example along the lines of Gaudi is the experimental filmmaker Hollis Frampton, whose works incorporate many elements from math and science (some examples are detailed in this essay).
posted by bubukaba at 6:40 PM on September 30, 2011
Seconding, too, Muybridge, Dickson, and all the other early still and motion picture photographers.
Another example along the lines of Gaudi is the experimental filmmaker Hollis Frampton, whose works incorporate many elements from math and science (some examples are detailed in this essay).
posted by bubukaba at 6:40 PM on September 30, 2011
Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (1711–1765): a Russian scientist and writer: "Among his discoveries was the atmosphere of Venus. [...] Lomonosov was also a poet, who created the basis of the modern Russian literary language."
posted by misteraitch at 2:33 AM on October 3, 2011
posted by misteraitch at 2:33 AM on October 3, 2011
Natalie Portman is an accomplished actress who also co-authored two science research papers.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 1:48 PM on February 9, 2012
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 1:48 PM on February 9, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by scody at 10:23 PM on September 29, 2011