According to Pablo Picasso, “Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.” Art in its very nature does not provide an accurate depiction of reality. In fact, oftentimes, it may even provide a twisted version of reality as can be appreciated by the surrealist paintings of Salvador Dali, or the magical realism present in Gabriel Garcia-Marquez’s writing. Hence, art can indeed be a lie about the very nature of reality. However, by actively spending time with the “lies” of great artists, we may begin to see the world at a deeper level. For example, the malleable, almost liquid-like clocks in Dali’s “The Persistence of Memory” may seem strange at a cursory glance. However, a keen eye may realize the very purpose of these illusory clocks are to reveal the truth that time may not be universally linear – it bends, stretches and collapses in dreams and memory. If we are therefore convinced by Picasso’s idea that “art is a lie that makes us realize truth”, we may be unsurprised to learn that art (or at minimum, artistic thinking) has fueled some of the most important discoveries in chemistry; the structure of the atom, the structure of the benzene ring, and the development of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
Perhaps the most famous implementation of Picasso’s definition of art lies in August Kekulé’s visualization of the benzene ring structure in 1865. Since its extraction from compressed coal gas by Michael Faraday in 1825, chemists throughout the 19th century wanted to understand the intricacies of benzene formation. This was largely due to the mysterious nature of benzene’s reactivity. Benzene’s chemical structure was known to have a formula of (C6H6) which made it a polyene, meaning, having many double or triple bonds. Unlike other polyenes known at the time which were highly reactive, benzene was not, which generated a lot of interest in understanding its enigmatic structure. In 1865, August Kekulé made the greatest initial leap in visualizing its structure. Having had architectural training prior to transitioning to chemistry, Kekulé had what he described as an “irresistible need for visualization.” Through a dream, he imagined the initial structure of benzene, visualizing its cyclical structure as a snake eating its own tail (a symbol in ancient cultures known as the ouroboros). This dream led him to characterize benzene as a regular hexagon with a hydrogen at each corner. As Picasso would say of art, this structure of benzene would turn out to be a “lie.” However, it was not too far from the truth, and in fact, would lead Kekulé to the true structure of benzene several years later. Indeed, in 1872, Kekulé published the “true” structure of benzene that is known today – a mixture of cyclohexatrienes in rapid equilibrium.
Today, the knowledge that atoms are the building blocks of all life and matter is ubiquitous. We may even know that atoms mainly consist of negatively charged electrons orbiting in distinct shapes around a positively charged nucleus. Although this knowledge may seem obvious in the modern world, when Niels Bohr first developed his hypothesis for the structure of a hydrogen atom in 1913, the nature of how electrons orbited around a nucleus was still unclear. At the time, the prevailing notion was based on the Rutherford model, which postulated that electrons orbit around a nucleus like planets around the sun. However, the Rutherford model suffered from a critical flaw brought about by knowledge of classical physics; if electrons orbit around a nucleus, they should emit energy continuously and eventually spiral into the nucleus of the atom. However, it was observed that hydrogen emitted energy at specific wavelengths, and therefore the Rutherford model needed amendments. In a dream, Bohr imagined electrons orbiting around the atomic nucleus at fixed, discontinuous energy levels. Much like an observer at a museum interrogating a surrealist painting, Bohr pondered upon the incomplete works of his predecessors and improved upon them using his own imagination, thereby “realizing truth” as Picasso would imply. Bohr’s improvements of Rutherford’s model indicated that electrons may emit only specific wavelengths of energy, which was precisely what is observed when examining emission spectra of various elements. The dream-induced artistic influence earned Niels Bohr the Nobel prize in Physics in 1922.
Another example of imagination revealing scientific truth is Kary Mullis’ discovery of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 1983 — a technique that would revolutionize molecular biology. While driving along the California coast at night, Mullis was reflecting on how to amplify specific segments of DNA. He suddenly envisioned a cyclical process involving heat to separate DNA strands, primers to mark the target region, and DNA polymerase to build new strands. This method could amplify a small fragment of DNA millions of times in a matter of hours. Although his colleagues at the time initially dismissed the idea as too simple to work, Mullis’ PCR transformed molecular biology completely. Today, PCR is indispensable to many facets of biological science, including basic science, genetic research, forensic science, and medical diagnostics. In Picasso’s terms, Mullis’ mental conception of PCR may, by itself, be considered art. At the time, his imagination may have seemed like a lie; an artistic distortion of practical reality. However, examining the technique at a deeper level reveals a profound biological truth regarding the necessary and sufficient factors for DNA replication. The discovery of PCR earned Kary Mullis the Nobel prize in Chemistry in 1993.
These breakthroughs, from Kekulé to Mullis, each demonstrate how artistic thinking enables science to leap beyond what is visible or logically obvious. What may appear, at first, to be fiction or fantasy often becomes the key to unlocking scientific truth. As Picasso suggested, it is through these “lies” that we come closer to understanding the deeper realities of our world.
Boyan Tsankov
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