Art and Science

RELATIVITY, MAURITS CORNELIS ESCHER, 1953This lithograph by the Dutch artist Escher presents a visual paradox, combining three distinct perspective views into a cohere n twhole. According to the writer Arthur Koestler: “Einstein’s space is no closer to reality than van Gogh’s sky. The glory ofscience is not in a truth more absolute than the truth of Bach or To l s t o y, but in the act of creation itself. The scientist’sdiscoveries impose his own order on chaos, as the composer or painter imposes his; an order that always refers to limited aspectsof re a l i t y, and is based on the observ e r’s frame of re f e rence, which differs from period to period as a Rembrandt nude differs fro ma nude by Manet.”© 1998 Cordon Art B. V. Baarn, the Netherlands. All rights reserved36