Did you know?
Many notable scientists were also very talented artists and musicians, (or perhaps you prefer to view them as talented artists that also did science, … whatever!) As part of my research for a recent school project I came across these short biographical sketches of two very remarkable individuals that distinguished themselves in both disciplines:
- Brian May: “The guitarist for a little band called Queen, he is consistently ranked as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. He also has a Ph.D. in astrophysics. May studied physics and mathematics at Imperial College, London and was in the process of getting his Ph.D. when Queen hit it big. Thirty years later, in 2007, he completed his dissertation. Yes, the man who wrote ‘We Will Rock You’ also wrote A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud. You probably know the words to only one of these” (Trendacosta, 2011).
- Albert Einstein: According to Albert, "The greatest scientists are artists as well" (Calaprice, 2000, 245). Indisputably one of the greatest physicists of all time, he was also a fine amateur pianist and violinist. He is well known for his statement that, for creative works in science, "Imagination is more important than knowledge."
So who are your favorite Rock-star Scientists?
- Note: This thread is a spin-off from my Philosophy of Science thread. If you like this sort of thing, please contribute there as well!
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References:
- Calaprice, Alice. (Ed.). (2000). The Expanded Quotable Einstein. Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press.
- Trendacosta, K. (2011). 10 scientist rock stars. io9. Retrieved April 12, 2014, from http://io9.com/5810217/10-scientist-rock-stars
