HISTORY OF SCIENCE 41 



it is not to be wondered at that they excite more sympathy and 

 interest. 



The history of the fine arts and of literature is generally con- 

 sidered as a history of the great artists and of the works they have 

 bequeathed to us. But one could adopt a different point of view: 

 just as the history of science gives us the materials of an evolu- 

 tion of human intellect, so one could look to the history of arts 

 and of literature for the story of the evolution of human sensibil- 

 ity. The history of science is a history of ideas; just so the history 

 of art could be considered as a history of man's dreams. Under- 

 stood in this way, the two histories complete and enlighten one 

 another. 



The interactions between science and art have been particu- 

 larly vivid at times in naturalistic reactions against scholastic and 

 pedantic excesses. It would be extremely interesting to make a 

 closer study of the rhythm of the different tendencies that swayed 

 plastic arts and music, and to look for similar rhythms in the con- 

 temporary succession of scientific theories, or more exactly, atti- 

 tudes. The appearance of men of genius, who were at one and 

 the same time artists and scientists — such as Leonardo da Vinci, 

 Albrecht Diirer and Bernard Palissy — gives us a splendid oppor- 

 tunity to study these interactions in their deepest and most fasci- 

 nating form. On the other hand, it is a fact that scientific ideas 

 have often been transmitted by works of art; moreover, for all the 

 period preceding the beginnings of popular printing, these works 

 of art give us direct testimonies — often the only ones we have — 

 of inestimable value. For instance, it would be impossible to trace 

 the history of ancient chemistry but for all the works of art and 

 decoration that have come to us; and, to understand the history 

 of chemistry, not only in ancient times but even up to the thresh- 

 old of the seventeenth century, it is still necessary to study the 

 development of the arts and crafts — the art of the potter, glass- 

 maker, chaser, jeweler, miniature-painter, and enameler. 



But the history of art helps us, above all, to understand the 

 spirit and the soul of vanished civilizations. From this point of 



