23rd February: Seminar 'From Leonardo to You' - the Links between Art and Science

On Thursday 23^rd February 2012 at Birmingham Thinktank Sally Hoban and Jon Wood will give a lecture on the inextricable link between scientists and artists over centuries. The lecture was originallly titled'from Michelangelo to You' but, with the presence of Leonardo da Vinci's drawings in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, the title has been changed.

Scientists and artists have worked collaboratively throughout history but it is only in the 21^st century that we are returning to the values of the natural philosophers who formed the Lunar Society. As we move towards a new ‘Third Culture’, over fifty years after C. P. Snow delivered the influential ‘Two Cultures’ at Cambridge University, this interactive lecture will discuss how scientists and artists have influenced and learned from each other, over the past 600 years. In order to be great scientists, do we also need to think like artists and vice versa?

Sally and Jon will offer a new perspective on how the history of art can illuminate aspects of theoretical and applied science, including emotion recognition and visual illusions. For instance, what links Rembrandt with the field of neuroscience today, or Cubism with warfare?

Sally Hoban is a freelance art and design historian, a writer and a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Birmingham. She is also the Heritage Training and Education Officer at Birmingham Assay Office.

Jon Wood is a cross-disciplinary academic at Aston University and a science communicator specialising in public engagement.

The lecture will take place at Thinktank Theatre. Arrival time is 18:30 for a 19:00 start, and the event will finish at 20:15.

[Thinktank, Millenium Point, Curzon Street, Birmingham B4 7XG]

This event will be chaired by Dr Kenny Webster and is free to members and non members. A coffee shop is open in Thinktank if members and guests would like to purchase refreshments.