The Two Cultures by C.P. Snow
In response to the age old Gutenberg question:
How can a university award a Doctor of Philosophy Degree to scientists who have never taken a class in philosophy?
1. CP Snow, PHD Physicist and Novelist tells the following story:
"A good many times I have been present at gatherings of people who, by the standards of the traditional culture [snobby literary elite], are thought highly educated and who have with considerable gusto been expressing their incredulity at the illiteracy of scientists. Once or twice I have been provoked and have asked the company how many of them could describe the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The response was cold: it was also negative. Yet I was asking something which is about the scientific equivalent of: 'Have you read a work of Shakespeare's?'" (Circa 1959)
2. This Youtube is a little ditty by Flanders & Swann (Circa 1964) is a response to CP Snow's statement.
3. Note: Neither Monty Python nor Fry & Laurie invented the genre of philosophical humor.
4. I hope that after my prolonged introduction you like it anyway.
How can a university award a Doctor of Philosophy Degree to scientists who have never taken a class in philosophy?
1. CP Snow, PHD Physicist and Novelist tells the following story:
"A good many times I have been present at gatherings of people who, by the standards of the traditional culture [snobby literary elite], are thought highly educated and who have with considerable gusto been expressing their incredulity at the illiteracy of scientists. Once or twice I have been provoked and have asked the company how many of them could describe the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The response was cold: it was also negative. Yet I was asking something which is about the scientific equivalent of: 'Have you read a work of Shakespeare's?'" (Circa 1959)
2. This Youtube is a little ditty by Flanders & Swann (Circa 1964) is a response to CP Snow's statement.
3. Note: Neither Monty Python nor Fry & Laurie invented the genre of philosophical humor.
4. I hope that after my prolonged introduction you like it anyway.