Science and Literature

Science and Literature

Science can be an inspiration for literature. Normally we think of

science as one kind of human investigation and literature as another, and that the

two do not have anything in common, yet in science fiction we have the

bringing together of the these two disciplines, either from the perspective of

the literary imagination or that of the scientific mind, Fred Hoyle and

Michael Crichton, for example. Science examines the nature of the real world

and seeks by means of technology and hard logic to gain an understanding of

it; it works with evidence. Literature seeks for truth, which does not

necessarily lie in the real world around us but rather in our minds and

our imaginations; it works with insight. Science fiction is the means by

which both of these aspects of human exploration can be melded in a single

effort. The very nature of science fiction ennobles the scientist in his quest

for knowledge, usually in order to avert some horrific disaster threatening

the human race, so it is not surprising that even in the film version of

Crichton's The Andromeda Strain (1971) we find the literary mind

engrossed with the great scientific feats of our time. However, the negative

aspect of science, the potential hubris lurking in the scientific mind is a

danger we must also acknowledge. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein suggests this

aspect of scientific pursuit.

In his essay "Enemies of Promise" J. Michael Bishop emphasizes

the benign aspect of science. He sees no evil in science as science. When

evil enters into science, it comes by way of the "political will" (239)

which manipulates the science and technology available to it. In his

example of the internal com...

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...conditions. Only the woman scientist proves

fallible (from the very beginning of the story), revealing a certain prejudice

in Crichton, which, as a mathematician, I do not appreciate. That is a

lesson I will not learn from this exercise. But I would say from my thinking

about these readings and from watching the movie that science is a platform

for the questions and answers that can be interpreted in an infinite number of

ways. With the advent of science fiction, the awe and wonder of human beings

on the issue of where humanity is headed is discussed at great length with as

many interpretations as there are human beings in the world.

Works Cited

Lunsford, Andrea A. and Ruszkiewicz,John J. The Presence of Others

Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, c.2000.

Wise, Robert, dir. The Andromeda Strain. Universal, 1971.