The two cultures meet again

In an influential public lecture delivered at the University of Cambridge in 1959, the British chemist and novelist C. P. Snow lamented what he perceived as a breakdown in communication between “the two cultures” of modern society—the sciences and the humanities—arguing that the resulting divide imperiled civilization’s progress. The latest attempt to heed this warning and heal the divide began this fall in Southern California, where more than 70 exhibitions probe terrain where “Art & Science Collide.” Organized by PST ART (previously Pacific Standard Time) and presented by Getty, the initiative includes offerings that interrogate a wide range of topics, exploring everything from environmental justice to human-robot dynamics to remote sensing and surveillance.