Technology, Cognition, and Culture Lecture Series: The Two Cultures - Plus One

Tuesday, April 2, 2002

This series, consisting of two lectures annually, will trace the evo- lution of information technologies and their influence on civili- zation. It will explore the passage from oral to written, from manu- script to print, and from print to electronic communication and its global network that instantaneously transmits words, num- bers, ideas, and images to all corners of the earth. The influence of these communications media on the management of knowl- edge, cognitive and technological developments, and cultural his- tory will be examined, as well as the role these media play at the interfacing of scientific, humanistic, and social history and scholarship. 

Neal Lane, Professor of Physics and Astronomy Rice University 

In 1959, C.P. Snow published a small book entitled The Two Cultures in which he argued that a communications gap had formed between the scientists and hu- manists in England and that this gap was dangerous for society. Much has changed in five decades.  
The goal of this talk is to address this “third culture”— society at large—and the need for a conversation involving the public, their elected policy makers, scientists, and other scholars.