Awkward

As Miss Tobins tells Peppi, art and science haven’t always been perceived as dichotomous. Miss Tobins gives Peppi the example of Leonardo da Vinci, who was an artist and scientist.

The Ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras, who lived in the sixth century BCE, sought to understand the fundamental aspects of the universe, nature, and society. His followers, called Pythagoreans, used his philosophy for inspiration in artistic and architectural works, desiring to use mathematics and science to make aesthetically perfect art.

This connection between art, math, and science inspired ancient and medieval European education. Then, students were taught the Seven Liberal Arts, which were broken down into the trivium—grammar, logic, and rhetoric—and the quadrivium—arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. These liberal arts were thought to represent a complete education, which emphasized understanding the relationships and interdependence between these subjects, rather than their differences.

As Europe moved through the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution, these subjects became more distinct. New inventions and discoveries—telescopes, industrial machines, electricity, anatomy, and chemistry—made science a distinct field. Eventually, in parts of the world influenced by Western thought, the fields of the liberal arts became increasingly separate, and each developed their own ideologies. Science came to be seen as objective and authoritative, whereas art came to be seen as subjective and fanciful.

Today, schools entirely separate science and art. Often, science is a mandatory class and art is an elective. Jobs in science and technology are generally more high-paying and more socially valued than jobs in arts and humanities. However, as Miss Tobins points out, even though the subjects are placed into competition with one another, they have many similarities. They are each “a means of investigation” using “ideas, theories, and hypotheses that are tested in places where mind and hand come together […] to transform information into something else” (“The Enduring Relationship of Science and Art.” The Art Institute of Chicago. 7 January 2003). In the novel, Miss Tobins, Peppi, and Jaime show how art and science can complement one another, rather than be in competition.