Like a pot: Part 2

"Brancusi is the Einstein of art." - Craig Raine

One of the best life decisions I ever made was taking two semesters of Modern Art during my first year of college. The first semester was a comprehensive overview of art aesthetics in middle Europe during the 16th-19th centuries, and the second semester focused on 20th century art movements in Europe and North America. Together, these two courses revolutionized my view of music, of literature, of art, of the world.

"Fish" by Constatin Brancusi. Photographed by me at
Tate Modern, London, 2013.

Probably my second-favorite 20th-century artist is Constantin Brancusi, a Romanian scupltor who spent most of his career in Paris. (In case you're wondering, my first-favorite artist is American composer Philip Glass.) Brancusi's sculptures are characteristically simple, capturing only the essential elements of an object rather than its intricate details. Please, if you are not familiar with Brancusi's work, look up "Bird in Space," "Fish," and "The Newborn."

I remember promising myself at some point that when I finally came up with a meaningful scientific theory of my own, it would be simple, elegant, with the essential elements only. I wanted to make science the way Brancusi made sculptures. Imagine my surprise when I visited Tate Modern in London in 2013 and discovered the exact same sentiment expressed in the museum. Right there, for all to see, beside Brancusi's "Fish" were the words of Craig Raine. Read for yourself:

Notes beside "Fish" by Constantin Brancusi. Photographed
by me at Tate Modern, London, 2013.

The best scientific theories are like Brancusi sculptures. Essential elements only. Summarizable in one sentence. Suggesting the basic form of the world without getting bogged down by all the details. Focusing on mechanisms and processes, not individual facts.

God willing, I will make science the way Brancusi makes sculptures.