The Science meets Poetry day originated at ESOF2006 in Munich. It was featured as an event to celebrate Ludwig II, the Visionary King of Bavaria, by bringing together scientists, engineers and poets to present the diverse facets of his fascinating and complex personality. The interest aroused by bringing together scientists and poets was such that it seemed a good idea to broaden the scope and to stage an event dedicated entirely to poetry and to science during ESOF2008 in Barcelona.

There is a hidden similarity between Science and Poetry which often passes unnoticed. Poets are generally concise, because they like to say a lot in a short text and to be very precise in their use of words. They also behave in similar ways, and their thoughts have many threads in common. Poets often like to respond to each other, and to gather in small groups with a common vision, and so, likewise, do many scientists.

So, it should be no surprise that a strong connection between science and art exists through poetry. Indeed, the figure of the poet-scientist (or scientist cum poet) is not as rare as one might believe. Examples abound of the mutual influences these different creative activities can have on each other.

The poet Goethe did more than dabble in science. His poetry so inspired the scientist Lockyer, founder of the famous scientific journal "Nature" that most of the first published issue was devoted to citations from Goethe's writings about nature, apparently collected together and translated by Lockyer himself.

Likewise, scientists have often inspired poets by making mysterious or spectacular discoveries, and a growing school of modern poetry brings together bards who have chosen science as their main source of inspiration.

There are also hidden similarities. Experiments with structure and with form play an important part in poetry, just as they do in mathematics, and this occult connection has existed since times immemorial. Omar Khayyam is but one of many poets for whom science as such may not have been the subject of verse, but surely played a determining role in establishing the rigour of its composition. His work on algebra is or course well-known, but it may be surprising to many that Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (the subject of a poem by Roald Hoffmann written especially for the Science meets Poetry day) was not just a passionate love-poet. She was also a scientist. As a French revolutionary, hostile to scientific education, once put it « L’étude des mathématiques, en comprimant la sensibilité, rend l’explosion des passions plus dangereuse. » (‘the study of mathematics, by curbing the spirit, makes the explosion of the passions yet more dangerous.’)

The aim of the Science meets Poetry event is to show by example that there is really no such thing as ‘two cultures’ and to explore all aspects of the overlap between science and poetry. We bring to ESOF2008 Forum well-known poets from all over Europe, to illustrate all the facets of the connections between them, with special emphasis on a rich diversity of approaches and on the complementarities between different forms of creativity.

The dangers of creating ‘two cultures’ by an artificial separation are all too clear. It was commented on at the gathering of scientists and poets that the language in which science is written up is fast becoming impersonal and devoid of content, and that it bears less and less relation to true English through the poverty of its vocabulary. In this respect as well, the practise of true literature by young scientists would have much to commend it.

A gathering of poets on such a wide linguistic front also provides us with a great opportunity to compare trends in contemporary poetry from several different parts of Europe. It turns out that, despite many language divides within our continent, there are plenty of themes which can wind a common thread through our different cultures. Achievements in one tongue are soon transposed into another, and poets are quick to help literary trends cross frontiers almost as fast as they are invented.

So, while the core of the Science meets Poetry day took place within ESOF2008, the session was extended to cover other aspects, and to allow the Poets an opportunity for more free-ranging discussions and presentation of their current interests and concerns. Several important Associations of Poets, from Europe and from further afield, have participated in the Science meets Poetry day, and this is reflected in the presentations collected together here, stating the aims and aspirations of these literary groups.

After the meeting, it was decided to gather together Proceedings for publication in a format similar to the book on science and poetry published for ESOF2006 by Euroscience (Ludwig II – The Visionary king of Bavaria) of which a few copies are still available on request from Euroscience (office@euroscience.org).

You can also download it by clicking here:
Science meets Poetry - PDF (2.40 Mb)