Abstract

Art and science are often seen in contemporary Western society as almost entirely separate and polarised fields of human enterprise. In contrast, a growing number of practitioners are realising that art and science are both intimately concerned with how we conceive of the world around us; not just as individuals, but also as societies. Art and science share a common embodied imagination, cognitive creativity, and independent spirit of inquiry at their heart, and both can summon up the visionary power of revolution for our senses. The editors and contributors to this book clearly highlight the many underlying themes that have always connected art and science throughout our history and show, through a range of essay styles and voices, how a hybrid art-science movement is now emerging. This new movement offers a broader transdisciplinary perspective to avoid relying on narrow specialisms and short-term fixes when addressing growing global problems such as climate change, economic instability, and provision of food, water, and healthcare for a rapidly expanding world population. Practitioners, researchers, and students in the arts, sciences, and humanities will all find much in this volume to stimulate and inform new ways of thinking about their own disciplinary approaches.