The Two Cultures: Shared Problems

The aim of the book is to encourage an in-depth discussion of problems of fundamental importance that are common to the two cultures, but that are traditionally seen from different perspectives. The forum will bring together scientists, philosophers, humanists, musicians with the aim of fostering comprehension of problems that have traditionally troubled humankind, and establish more fertile grounds for the communication between the two cultures. The themes of the contributions are the followings: the concept of time, infinity, the concept and meaning of nothingness, numbers, intelligence and the human mind, basic mechanisms in the production of thought and of artistic creation, the relationship between artistic and scientific creativity. LEOPOLDO MAZZAROLLI Introduction MICHELANGELO PISTOLETTO Mirror: an optical prosthesis that multiplies the reflective capacities of the mind The Concept of Time GABRIELE VENEZIANO Did time have a beginning? A meeting point for science and philosophy HANS MOOIJ The flow and the map: on the dynamic and static views of time Infinity and Nothingness LUCIANO BOI Creating the physical world ex nihilo? On the quantum vacuum and its fluctuations EUGENIO MAZZARELLA World nihilism and theological nihilism: a possible definition RUTH DURRER The evolution of the universe PIERGIORGIO ODIFREDDI Eternity breaks through Zeno Numbers MARCUS DU SAUTOY Symmetry Intelligence and Emotions GIORGIO VALLORTIGARA Intelligence and human cognition: mental processing in humble brains ELKHONON GOLDBERG Many faces of intelligence Brain and Music JOERG RASCHE Cycles of re-creation: psychoanalytical approach to music Creativity in Arts and Science ARTHUR MILLER Art and science: two cultures or two sides of same coin? ERNESTO CARAFOLI Scientific and artistic creativity. Towards a unifying concep Beauty: Beyond Emotions? MAURIZIO FERRARIS Things and artworks GIUSEPPE O. LONGO The dynamics of beauty Arts and Science: a Final Journey MARIO BOTTA Architecture between art and science