Einstein, Picasso: Space, Time, and the Beauty That Causes Havoc

Modern art always raised certain questions in my mind, which to my amazement matched the thought process of some of my scientist friends. Some of their exact quotes were “useless,” “nails and iron become high art when the art world says they are,” and “why do people pursue art at all?” To be honest my attitude towards art was somewhat in unison with theirs. The question that most plagued me was about abstraction in art. What do we mean by abstract art? Moreover, why do certain combination of shapes and colors fascinate us? As far as science is concerned, I knew no physicist who could explain to me in simple words the implication of the relativity theory. I took that as my inability to understand physics. However, when Einstein became Time Magazine’s person of the century leaving Gandhi in the “runners up” position I was confused. No person I knew could explain Einstein’s achievement, but they more or less understood the Gandhian philosophy. This ignorance generated a deep curiosity in me. The book Einstein, Picasso: Space, Time and the Beauty That Causes Havoc by Aurthur I. Miller satisfied this curiosity and replaced it, at the very least, with an equivalent amount of interest. Thus, I think for the general reader, who is in the quandary of whether art and science are two exclusive streams of creative expression and who believes that “science is superior to art” this book is a must read.