Saturday, January 30, 2010

Two Cultures going on 51

2009 marked the 50th anniversary of C.P. Snow's landmark lecture on "The Two Cultures," later supplemented and published in book form. The press covered this anniversary last year. I found some articles on the subject, and at some point I may review them and mention the most interesting ones. At the moment I have this reference at hand:

Brin, David. The old and new versions of "culture war", Contrary Brin blog, May 8, 2009.

A brief bibliography and web guide on the subject forms a section of my Positivism vs Life Philosophy (Lebensphilosophie) Study Guide.

Independently of this anniversary, the "two cultures" remains a theme in popular culture, addressed by a variety of serious intellectuals. Here are a few examples I just came across:

Mae Jemison on teaching arts and sciences together, TED, Feb. 2002.

Rebecca Goldstein, "The Two Cultures," in M. Kramer (ed.), The Jewish Experience in Contemporary Literature: Two Worlds? (Special issue of Maggid, The Toby Press, 2004).

"Gödel and the Nature of Mathematical Truth ": A Talk with Rebecca Goldstein, Edge: The Third Culture, 06.08.05.

Rebecca Goldstein, "Why I’ve Learned to Love the Novel," New Scientist, Aug. 25, 2007.

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