“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all art and science.” — Albert Einstein
Thank you to our talented IMMPress writers for bringing this concept, and this quotation from Albert Einstein, to our attention. Einstein also said, “The greatest scientists are always artists as well”, and while we may not all be avid practitioners of the arts, I would argue there is an artist inside all of us, just waiting to be released. Indeed, in my experience, it can be hard to separate the scientist from the artist. I am thinking about my faculty colleagues who play active roles in the arts, including Drs. Chris Paige (chair of the Tafelmusik board of directors), Rob Rottapel (board member of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and talented flautist), Michelle Letarte and Eleanor Fish (talented visual artists) among others. Clearly there is a strong vein of artistic talent that runs through our collective Departmental history – after all, the Cinader award, named after one of our founding members, recognizes senior PhD students who have not only pursued scientific excellence, but also a passion for the arts.
I myself find inspiration at my weekly choir practices where I can focus entirely on something that is not science. And that is a big theme of this issue – how using the creative side of our brains for something unrelated to our science can bring unexpected epiphanies. It’s like trying the crossword in the morning, then returning to it in the evening and realizing you have been unconsciously solving those tough clues while your brain marinates in something else. But art is more than brain diversion – we know that the representation of data in our papers is highly visual, particularly in this age of multidimensional datasets. This can make a big difference to readership when your paper is published, the equivalent to hanging a painting on a gallery wall for the rest of the world to see.
While the visual arts can be a springboard to communicating science, music has the power to teach us about the importance of practice, of repetition and of gaining resilience. The biography of Dr. Gabriel Victora, who began as a concert pianist and is now a renowned B cell biologist, reminds us that a similar discipline drives the scientist and the musician to strive for perfection. As noted in the article on “beyond left and right” the best art and science come from “a blend of focus and creative freedom”. After all, there is only one way to get to Carnegie Hall…
Beyond the production of art (and science) I really liked how Dr. Michelle Letarte described her experience among artists at Propeller Gallery as not just about the art, but about the community. It was that sense of community that also prompted Dr. Mahmoud El-Maklizi to return to art during his PhD in our Department. Is it not the same in science? We are at our creative best when we urge each other to take risks and we can help each other with creative problem solving.
Summing up this issue, I quote from the article on Fact and Feeling: “At their core, artists and scientists often share a common objective: to challenge conventional ways of thinking and uncover new perspectives that allow us to enhance our experience as human beings”. As scientists, that’s our job in a nutshell – and what an amazing job it is.
Jen Gommerman, PhD
Canada Research Chair in Tissue Specific Immunity
Professor and Chair, Department of Immunology
Jennifer Gommerman
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