~ Posted by Tim de Lisle, ??August 12th 2014
It is now 55 years since C.P. Snow reached for his clarion to raise the alarm about “The Two Cultures”—the dangers of the arts and the sciences not speaking each other’s language. Progress since has been fitful: the odd bestseller by Stephen Hawking or Richard Dawkins, programmes by Brian Cox, novels by Ian McEwan. The ability to mix the arts and science seems to be like swimming—somehow, we un-learn it. At 15, when life is tricky in many ways, we have no trouble going straight from history to chemistry. By 17, we have been pushed down one road or the other; by 19, in Britain at least, many bright young things are accidental specialists, locked in the library or the lab.
Our mothership, The Economist, has a long tradition of lively science coverage. As a magazine of life, culture, style and places, Intelligent Life tends to sit more on the arts side of the great divide. But we aim to bridge it with Oliver Morton’s regular column The Music of Science, whose very name is a nod to C.P. Snow, and with one-off science stories—two of which, on the coelacanth and the algorithm, have had more readers online than any other new pieces from the past two years. And this issue is our most scientific yet. The cover star is a physicist, Andre Geim, the godfather of graphene. We have a feature on urban geology, which, like our recent cover story on how light affects health, takes something that is under your nose and opens your eyes to it. The first long read is the story of the kilogram, which has already inspired a range of reactions. “It’s quite a work-out,” said our editorial assistant, a history graduate, while the art director thought it was “fun”. With a bit of luck, it’s both.
We have a special section on Inspiring Innovators, generously supported by Pictet, which allows us to add it to our normal run of pages. The title covers both the arts and the sciences, and the results put the two together like a kid with a chemistry set. Our deputy editor, Isabel Lloyd, has persuaded 14 original minds, from James Lovelock and Robert Winston to Peter Sellars and David Lynch—plus three computer scientists, all female—to talk about someone whose originality inspired them. In another first, all the chosen innovators are portrayed in illustrations rather than photographs, so that even the most scientific pages in the section are also highly artistic.
It’s not all food for the brain. We also have some for the stomach, with a new column that unites two cultures of a different kind—French and British cuisine. Like any good double act, The Kitchen Dialogues, is about contrasts. Christopher Hirst, Yorkshireman, trencherman and the most genial of food writers, joins forces with Arnaud Schon, a chef, Frenchman and adopted Londoner, lighter on his feet but just as fond of his lunch. Their conversations will not be about recipes so much as ways of adding a touch of savoir faire to everyday dishes.
Two more double acts appear for one issue only. Our Applied Fashion columnist, Rebecca Willis, has spent months working with a leading shoe designer, Tracey Neuls, on the almost perfect boot. Their design, flying our flag discreetly on its sole, is in the shops now; my only regret is not asking for a men’s version. The novelist Hilary Mantel, who was on the cover in 2010 with a superb piece about book prizes, appears at our second literary event, comparing notes with the actress Harriet Walter on capturing historical figures on the page and the stage.
Tim de Lisle is editor of Intelligent Life
Photograph Graham Black
