Reductionism In Art And Brain Science: Bridging The Two Cultures
by Eric R. Kandel /
2018 / English / PDF
115.5 MB Download
Are art and science separated by an unbridgeable divide? Can they
find common ground? In this book, neuroscientist Eric R. Kandel,
whose remarkable scientific career and deep interest in art give
him a unique perspective, demonstrates how science can inform the
way we experience a work of art and seek to understand its meaning.
Kandel illustrates how reductionism-the distillation of larger
scientific or aesthetic concepts into smaller, more tractable
components-has been used by scientists and artists alike to pursue
their respective truths. He draws on his Nobel Prize-winning work
revealing the neurobiological underpinnings of learning and memory
in sea slugs to shed light on the complex workings of the mental
processes of higher animals. In Reductionism in Art and Brain
Science, Kandel shows how this radically reductionist approach,
applied to the most complex puzzle of our time-the brain-has been
employed by modern artists who distill their subjective world into
color, form, and light. Kandel demonstrates through bottom-up
sensory and top-down cognitive functions how science can explore
the complexities of human perception and help us to perceive,
appreciate, and understand great works of art.
Are art and science separated by an unbridgeable divide? Can they
find common ground? In this book, neuroscientist Eric R. Kandel,
whose remarkable scientific career and deep interest in art give
him a unique perspective, demonstrates how science can inform the
way we experience a work of art and seek to understand its meaning.
Kandel illustrates how reductionism-the distillation of larger
scientific or aesthetic concepts into smaller, more tractable
components-has been used by scientists and artists alike to pursue
their respective truths. He draws on his Nobel Prize-winning work
revealing the neurobiological underpinnings of learning and memory
in sea slugs to shed light on the complex workings of the mental
processes of higher animals. In Reductionism in Art and Brain
Science, Kandel shows how this radically reductionist approach,
applied to the most complex puzzle of our time-the brain-has been
employed by modern artists who distill their subjective world into
color, form, and light. Kandel demonstrates through bottom-up
sensory and top-down cognitive functions how science can explore
the complexities of human perception and help us to perceive,
appreciate, and understand great works of art.