Poetry Influenced by the Scientific Revolution 75
movement’s attitude towards science with the lines
gray and ashen, my friend is every science,
and only the golden tree of life is green.Although the romantics were disillusioned with science they were not
disillusioned with the subject of scientific study, namely nature, as the
following lines of Blake indicate.
To see a World in a grain of sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an Hour.The spirit contained in these lines does not represent a critique of
science but rather an implicit support of it. The sentiment expressed
could well be that of a dedicated scientist. It has always seemed to me
that the conflict between the scientists and the humanists, epitomized by
the critical attitude of the Romantic Movement toward science, is
without substance.
The criticism of the humanists is often quite correct, but they are
often misdirected because they do not distinguish between science and
pseudo-science. The science community on the other hand, has been lax
in criticizing those who abuse either their methods (the pseudo-
scientists), or their results (technocratic exploiters of humanity).
Hopefully the day will come when these two communities can combine
their talents so that man’s knowledge will no longer be used
destructively against his own self interest as it has been at various times
since the advent of scientific revolution such as at Hiroshima, or in the
sweat shops spawned in the early days of the Industrial Revolution.