About the Talk
Earth as Art
In his 2012 book, “The Sciences and the Arts,” Chemist Harold Cassidy draws parallels between the way artists and scientists view their worlds. He states that “there is no subject that is unfit for the probing insight of the artist, nor is there anything unsuitable for the scientist to examine.”
The premise of Dr. Pestrong’s presentation is that Art is central to the Earth, both figuratively and literally. If you cover the first and last letters of the word “Earth”, there is “art”. This is a symbolic indication of how integral Art is to the Earth and how aspects of the Arts enhance our understanding of Earth Sciences.
A 21st-century paradigm is emerging in which the integration of different fields of knowledge is seen as a necessary goal. When connections are established among otherwise disparate bits of data, more universal theorems and deeper understanding result. Our speaker’s goals, in this context, are to show how aspects of the Arts may be used to generate interest and gain insights into how the Earth works and to demonstrate how logic is not restricted solely to the scientist and that intuition is not the sole realm of the artist.
This hour-long program has been shown all across the United State to a broad spectrum of audiences. It was developed as a teaching tool for introductory geology courses, but its wide acceptance is an indication of the profound interest we have in the physical environment. Like the world it reflects, Earth Art is constantly changing as new relationships become apparent; as you’ll see, Earth Art comes in many forms.
About the Speaker
Ray Pestrong is an Emeritus Professor of Geology in the Department of Earth & Climate Sciences at San Francisco State University. For 44 years, he has taught geomorphology and engineering geology, as well as numerous general education courses in introductory geology. Dr. Pestrong has written college texts and scientific articles and has produced geologic videos. For the past 22 years, Ray has led rafting trips on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. What he loves most is teaching and the exciting interactions possible through that venture.
Dr. Nesbitt is Curator of Paleontology at the Burke Museum and Earth Sciences professor at the University of Washington. She received her doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Susan Kieffer will describe what eruptions of Old Faithful Geyser and Mount St. Helens in 1980 have in common with rapids on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon? It’s Rocket science–literally! She will discuss how some fundamental nozzle concepts from aeronautics govern flow patterns in three geologic nozzles, which can be rapid agents of change in the geologic record.
She is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a 1995 MacArthur Fellow. She was awarded the Penrose Medal by the Geological Society of America in 2014 and is currently the Charles R. Walgreen, Jr. Professor Emerita at the University of Illinois.