Two Cultures: Sixty Years Later

“The Two Cultures” is the first part of an influential 1959 Rede Lecture by British scientist and novelist C. P. Snow.  Its thesis was that “the intellectual life of the whole of western society” was split into two cultures – the sciences and the humanities – which was a major hindrance to solving the world’s problems.  “The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution” (1959) was a published version of the lectures in book form.  In 1963 Snow added a second part to his original work, “The Two Cultures: A Second Look.”

The lecture and subsequent publishing of the book raised a storm of outrage.  There were howls of protest from mostly non-scientific critics, and there were scientists who were also critical of Snow’s thesis.

Sixty years have passed since Snow’s lecture at the University of Cambridge.  It is time to re-visit the original thesis and evaluate whether the phenomenon of two cultures is still a concept influencing society, or a belief that is no longer relevant.  Since 1959 science, and hence technology, has made immense gains in fundamental knowledge of the physical, chemical, and biological universe.  That knowledge has spurred tremendous technical development that has changed human life to an extent that would have been unimaginable in 1959.  Do science and humanities now speak the same language, or is it still mostly ships passing in the night?

EHST Member Atish Sen will present his thoughts on this topic.