5 July 1996

Artless Science

Vladimir Nabokov asked "Does there not exist a high ridge where the mountainside of 'scientific' knowledge joins the opposite slope of 'artistic' imagination?"

I know that there is such a site; it's a good place to rendezvous with friends. I doubt that the spectacular view has been enjoyed by the "more than 1,500 scientists and engineers from medical, university, and manufacturing organizations" in the Macscitech association.

The Macscitech logo says it all, really. First, there's the incredibly bad graphic design. Then there's the appalling typography: it looks like it was done by a nine year old child, except a nine year old would undoubtedly have chosen a better font. Most amazingly, they castrated the poor man in da Vinci's drawing.

Ouch! It's no wonder people fear scientists.