Posts

Kelley Swain, Poet-in-Residence in Oxford: “I will never become bored with writing poetry about natural history”

During 2016, Kelley Swain has been one of three poets in residence at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. “It’s a safe bet that poets will be interested in being ‘in residence’ at your institution,” she says.  The…

Using poetic verse for scientific abstracts – a study by Sam Illingworth

Can the accessibility of a scientific article be improved if the original abstract is interpreted in poetic verse? Sam Illingworth – SciComm teacher at Manchester University and  science poet – recently decided to explore this. The…

Masters of illustration 1: Haeckel and “The Arts Forms of Nature”

Visual arts and science may have very little in common, but when the two connect, a new form of both may be created. One of the most stunning examples of this are the illustrations of Ernst Haeckel, German naturalist. This is the first in…

Science and aesthetics – two complementary views of the world

According to Kyiv-based genetics student Anastasiia Semenova, scientists “still seek and create aesthetic elements in science”. Here she shares some reflections after reading the book To Explain the World: The discovery of modern science…

The Crastina Column, February: The shortest route to the real answer is via the Imaginary.

Scientists and poets are often described as being very far apart in their worldview. Nothing could be further from the truth.  British biologist and poet Joanna Tilsley—whose nom de plume is xYz—explains why the wonder of science and the…