Science is Art and Art is Science   Joe Wolfe (UNSW) and Richard Taylor (UNSW) Wednesday November 25, 1998, 7-9pm Duke of Edinburgh, Pyrmont Science in the Pub talks about the relation between Science and Art, and whether there really is a cultural divide between the two. We have two physicists from UNSW who are also accomplished artists in their own right, Joe Wolfe, a musician and Richard Taylor, a painter. First we hear from Joe: A portrait or a landscape, or a figment Drawn from the artist's own imagination: One marvels that this spectrum of creation Can all be squeezed from just five tubes of pigment. Composers have another wonder, which is Building, from thin air, their masterpieces Whose number, vast already, still increases - Yet all are made from several dozen pitches. Another craft yields work no less diverse: With axioms and laws and observations, The scientist will take a few equations And try to build a model universe. So may we dare, with just a few ideas, Distract you for an evening from your beers. Richard offers us the following in return: The strange affair of Sci and Art: the Best Man's Speech Art thinks Sci is only after her beauty Sci thinks Art is only after his wealth Perhaps their marriage will end in disaster So let's drink instead to their health Dr Joe Wolfe is an associate professor in Physics at UNSW, where his research interests are musical acoustics and biophysics. He has a collaborative research project with Cochlear Ltd. which aims to improve music perception for users of the "bionic ear". With colleague John Smith at UNSW he developed a technique for real-time measurement of acoustical response which they use to study the acoustics of musical instruments and the human vocal tract. As a student, Joe played in jazz and fusion bands, then worked for a while as musician, composer and arranger before returning to science. He still plays and writes orchestral and chamber music. Joe wrote and presented the 6 part series "The Science of Music", broadcast by ABCFM and Radio National. You can learn more about Joe through his web page at URL http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/wolfe.html Dr Richard Taylor is currently a QEII Research Fellow in the School of Physics at the University of New South Wales, where he studies chaos and fractals in mesoscopic electricity. During his research career he has worked in Britain, Japan, Canada and Australia and has published over 100 papers. He has also practised Art and Design at Manchester School of Art. Having exhibited and published his own paintings, he is currently writing a book `Fractals in Modern Art' based on his Master of Art Theory thesis. This work recently appeared on the ABC Science show `Quantum' and is the subject of a series of public lectures around the country. Richard also drinks beer, especially when free (hint)! The new ASC President, Robyn Williams, doing his bit for Science in the Pub™ SciPub is held the last Wednesday of the month in the Duke of Edinburgh pub, 152 Harris Street, Pyrmont, 2009 from 7-9pm. Telephone (02) 9660 8146. UBD Map ref pg235 P10. Park at Star City if coming by car. For further information on `Science in the Pub' please contact Robyn Stutchbury on rstutch@ozemail.com.au of Peripatus Productions Pty Limited, 1 Carisbrook Street, Lane Cove 2066, Tel: 02 9427 6747, Fax: 02 9418 9605 Next Science in the Pub session, 25 February 1999 Water: surveillance tecnhology Dont forget the ASC Xmas Party on 16 December at the Duke of Edinburgh. ASC members $10, Non-members $15 to cover cost of finger food. Drinks available for sale at the bar. All attendees and participants of SciPub especially welcome. Will feature the choosing of the Best and Worst SciPub Poems for the year!
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