Monthly Muse

When Classics Meets Physics...

 

     In December of 2014, our very own Professor Seth Holm gave a lecture on Lucretius and his major piece, De Rerum Natura. The De Rerum Natura is an epic-length didactic poem, written to expose Roman audiences to the ideas and premises of Epicurean philosophy. As Professor Holm explains in his talk, Lucretius’ piece is comparable to any work of modern popular science on television, for example Cosmos originally by Carl Sagan and recreated by Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Poetry, in Lucretius’ time, was the main medium that the public gained knowledge. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of Lucretius’ piece, Professor Holm’s lecture drew an audience of students and professors from all across campus. Most notably was Professor of Astronomy Jeff Bary, who attended with a handful of Physics/Astrophysics students in tow. After the lecture, I sat down with Professor Bary to get his perspective on the topic.

      When I met with Bary, he had just finished teaching about Lucretius in his class CORE 106: Galileo, Church, and Scientific Endeavors. 

       "One the things I find kind of fascinating and satisfying this morning in class,” He told me, “was that I had one student who said, ‘You know, I don’t understand a lot of science writings, I just don’t *get* it… but I *got* this poem.”

       De Rerum Natura is a text that transcends the divide of science and art, however real or manufactured that divide may be. Bary and I discussed this dichotomy at length, probing into the merits of Lucretius’ approach. As an astrophysicist and a professor, this is a question he wants his students to study as well.

      "I was pushing on them a little bit to really consider, should we open our minds and accept different ways of writing about different scientific topics? Why not have poems full of emotions that address issues of the Big Bang Theory?”

      The interdisciplinary work of Lucretius is so beautifully translatable to a core value to an institution like Colgate. The merging of the arts and sciences is something I personally love to see, whether that is in the shape of courses (like Bary’s CORE 106 or Professor Tony Aveni’s Astronomy and Culture) or simply lectures and events put on by multiple departments across campus. Even in our very own department, we see every day the beauty of multiple perspectives. The Classics Department is so unique because we are learning not a subject, but a people and a time. We are able to explore the languages of those peoples, along with their history, society and culture, not to mention the arts they produced, and the archaeology that makes these explorations possible. It is a wonderful opportunity when we are able to broaden these already wide approaches and welcome other departments into our studies with lectures such as Professor Holm’s.