Within Unit Six, we were told to read C.P. Snow’s “Two Cultures.”
Within the reading, I found it interesting how Snow suggested education reform as a solution to the polarity of the two cultures. The text was written in 1959 but the education system still seems more specialized in England than in the United States today. Also, Snow blames England’s “tendency to let social forms crystallise,” meaning that Snow believes England is slow when it comes to giving in to cultural changes (17).
In “Two Cultures,” there was one quote that specifically stuck out to me was the following:
“That total incomprehension gives, much more, pervasiley than we realise, living it, an unscientific flavor to the whole “traditional” culture, and that unscientific flavor is often, much more than we admit, on the point of turning anti-scientific” (11).
I am confused by this quote because I genuinely do not understand what it is saying. My poor interpretation is that things we do not typically associate with science are more closely affiliated with it than we think. I feel like this is an important section within in the text and need to better understand it.
Scientific Theories that I recognized throughout:
Special Relativity Albert Einstein, 1905
General Relativity, Albert Einstein, 1915
Evolution by Natural Selection, Charles Darwin, 1859
Heliocentrism, Copernicus, 1543
Scientific Experiments that I recognized throughout:
“Gregor Mendel Cultivates Genetics”
“Issac Newton Eye Optics”
Marie Curie Radioactivity
“Ivan Pavlov Salivates at the Idea”