S-E^lSTvlSEK 6, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



299 



•Isr^t always have the two types of imagi- 

 nation, the scientific and the poetic, been 

 Separated in individuals. Indeed the oc- 

 currence of the two in the same individual 

 is so often to be noticed that the two types 

 might well be supposed to be really the 

 same in essence and to diifer only in their 

 field of development. History furnishes 

 many a proof of this twofold exercise of 

 originality. For example, Leonardo da 

 Vinci furnishes striking evidence of the 

 manifold woxking of a powerful imagina- 

 tion. Leosiardo was no less eminent as a 

 geologist and engineer than as an artist 

 and a poet. Chemistry too was profoundly 

 interestiiag to him. His extraordinary 

 writings manifest the fruitfulness of an 

 imagination which has rarely been equaled. 

 His few paintings, which show surpassing 

 insight into human nature and unusual 

 technical skill, were the expression of the 

 same im-aginative force. If Leonardo were 

 living to-day, he might be as well known 

 for his investigations into pure and applied 

 science as for his artistic preeminence, 

 since th^e fields of thought noAv have much 

 more to offer to the imaginative mind 

 than they had in the days when their scope 

 was more restricted and less appreciated. 



In more recent times, Goethe furnishes 

 one of the most brilliant examples of a 

 truly poetic mind which found joy in sci- 

 entific studies. Groethe was not only one 

 of the greatest poets of all times; he made 

 also notable contributions to the science of 

 his day. The imaginative quality which 

 gives the pervading charm to one product 

 of his genius gave insight to the other. 



These are examples of men primarily 

 known for their ability in the directions 

 commonly recognized as imaginative, who 

 have possessed also ability which was or 

 might have been developed in a scientific 

 direction. One may find likewise many 

 cases of the dual use of the imagination 



among those who are known chiefly for 

 their scientific productions. For example, 

 von Helmholtz's interest in sound was not 

 purely mathematical in its expression; the 

 great physicist loved music for itself, hav- 

 ing a wide knowledge of its literature and 

 keen pleasure in its performance. Robert 

 Wilhelm Bunsen 's delight in the beauty of 

 the Italian landscape, especially of the 

 country around Naples, will be remembered 

 by any one who knew him; this poetic ap^ 

 preciation, artistic in feeling if not in ex- 

 pression, persisted even to his old age, 

 after pain and disability had caused hia 

 interest in chemistry to wane. 



The case of Charles Darwin, which is- 

 the one example usually cited to prove the ' 

 supposed incompatibility of the scientifie- 

 and poetic imaginations, is perhaps ratlier 

 to be referred to anotllei' category. One 

 can hardly follow his long combat with ill- 

 health without feeling that this misfortune, 

 not his scientific interest, was the cause of 

 the apparent atrophy of his literary and 

 artistic sympathy. Darwin in his youth 

 was extremely sensitive to every imagina- 

 tive impulse; and years of suffering were 

 needed to deaden this intense sensibility. 



There is no need of multiplying the many 

 possible examples of this kind, however, for 

 the best place to find evidences of the 

 imaginative insight of a scientific man is in 

 his own work. Here, where his mind has 

 dwelt longest, his mental vision will find 

 its widest scope. Perhaps the most easily 

 traceable record of this immediate effect of 

 the scientific imagination is to be found in 

 the life of Faraday, because he committed 

 his wildest dreams to the pages of existing 

 notebooks. Faraday's originality ranged 

 at large over the whole field of chemistry 

 and physics; to him nothing seemed too 

 strange to be possible, no relation too un- 

 likely to be unworthy of thought. But 

 with this extraordinary disposition to 



