Art of Narrative Science

Catalog description

Are art and science really in conflict with each other, as is often thought? Is science dispelling mystery and consigning us to a world of dreary reductionism? This course answers such questions with a resounding no. There is, in fact, neither conflict nor antagonism between the realms of art and science. Indeed, the two complement and complete one another in ways that only artful narrative can fully reveal. A poet, through metaphor, builds bridges from entangled inscapes of thought and emotion to a place of shared understanding. A good narrative science writer must do the equivalent with the often recondite minutia of modern scientific exploration. It has become ever more essential for writers to report back from these new and wild frontiers with clear, intelligible, and descriptive prose. Students in this course will develop their vocabularies of both science and writing, learning to seize upon the parallels between the writing process and sound scientific method: trial, error, repetition, and, perhaps most importantly, daring.