Extended Classic – Cosmic Queries Art and Science

About This Episode

Now extended with 12 minutes of Neil and Bill Nye drinking wine and pondering time in the “Cosmic Crib.”

Get ready to explore the intersection of art and science, a subject about which astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has thought a great deal. He describes how art has enhanced his capacity to appreciate the beauty of the cosmos captured in photos taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. He explains how his favorite sculptures are inspired by celestial movements, and how he wishes science would show up more in books, movies and TV (with shout-outs to The Big Bang Theory and Avatar). Neil and comic co-host Chuck Nice talk at length about The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh, discussing the difference between scientific accuracy and the emotions that great art inspires. You’ll learn about comets in Giotto’s Adoration of the Magi and The Bayeux Tapestry, the Music of the Spheres, the Golden Ratio, math’s influence on art, computer-generated art, Leonardo da Vinci, M.C. Escher, chickens and eggs, artists and scientists, sacred geometry, and so much more.

NOTE: StarTalk All-Access subscribers can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: Extended Classic – Cosmic Queries Art and Science.