Symphony of Science

There are things that just seem to go together.  You know, the word packages like ‘bouncing baby boy’ or ‘fire engine red’.  They may be cliched, but they fit.  So do peanut butter and chocolate, Batman and Robin, and snow days and sledding.

There are however things that are so odd you can’t help but pause, back step, stare, and then be forced to move along. Or sometimes you just ignore them, such as seeing your professor shopping at Meijer. Or your friend’s boyfriend wearing a French maid costume.  There are the more mundane things too, like witnessing a guy baking or an athlete wearing a shirt proclaiming his love of the 80’s version of Transformers.  Some things just don’t fit.

And yet, they still get forced together.  Example A: CatDog.  

There is so much information, both personal and other that suggest these two creatures, hyperactive poochies and chillaxing kitties, just don’t belong together.  And yet in this cartoon they do.  Not perfectly mind you, but it is a meshing of opposites that works.

Another thing you don’t often see is a combination of art and science.

The two come from completely opposite ends of the spectrum.  Science is logical, structured.  It has to follow rules and procedures. Art? Not so much.  It is about emotions, free thinking, and a lack of restraints.  The two even use different parts our brains!

And yet there is a definite link between the two.  It has been shown that art programs in school results in better grades in the sciences and art is commonly used as a teaching tool.  Learning your ABCs would have been much harder without the song to accompany it. And would you really have reached your current reading level if there had been a lack of pictures to keep you entertained when you first got introduced to books?

And don’t forget shows like the Magic School Bus!  I never would have been interested in science if not for Ms. Frizzle and the rest of the class.  Art was used to make science exciting, made children want to learn, and learn they did!  Who doesn’t remember the songs (or at least the choruses) of School House Rock?

But now that we’re older, art isn’t used as a teaching tool.  Well aside from those Screen Arts and Culture classes where you analyze culture concerns through movies. (All those vampire movies in the 80’s, fear of AIDS. Now? Wanting what is out of our reach.  Hey! Avatar was about that too!) Seriously, power point lectures are boring.  You’re lucky if you get to see an old sketch of some old dude.  And very few even do that.  Remember when you learned power point? The words effects and cool backgrounds was where it was at.

But maybe that’s not the case.  Maybe, somewhere out there in the vast network of computers and people that is called the [insert booming voice] The Internet [/voice] someone, somewhere had come with with another way to tech us through art.  I bring you, the Symphony of Science.

Wait no! Don’t run away with images of Yo-Yo Ma lecturing about sound vibration with a harp being plucked gently in the background in your head!  This is modern stuff completely lacking in violins, harps, trumpets, or conductors.  Instead consider John Boswell as a director.

Symphony of Science is an effort to deliver scientific knowledge in musical form.  There are four songs, each with downloads and lyrics available on the website as well as the music videos.  Each song is composed of the remixed quotes of scientists, from Carl Sagan, Jane Goodwell, and Bill Nye the Science Guy, put to the tune of electronic music.  And each explores different subjects: astronomy, evolution, humanity, creation.

They also get stuck in your head, just like the songs you hear on the radio.

But more than that, they actually teach.  Using images and phrases that wow you, make you pause and think.  And the best part is that each song is understandable.  There is no large amount of jargon to confuse you, only simple, eloquent thoughts that explain so much and also put you in your place.

But don’t just listen to me.  Listen to Boswell’s songs yourself.

Interested in more? Click here.

Your (recently converted) Carl Sagan junkie blogger,

Jenny