Laputa

 "Art is the tree of Life, science is the tree of Death." Though this notion was first explored by William Blake, a poet who lived in the 1700's, its principles are generally accepted today. Art is produced solely from creativity -- a trait that is required to build anything of substance, whereas science is viewed as a more practical, analytical process of creation that is normally rejected by the general populous as being too pedestrian and not personal enough to be able to create anything of importance. In much the same way though that life does not have worth without death, art and creativity do not have worth without science. Jonathon Swift's Gulliver's Travels shows that science and creativity must be effectively combined in order to create a product of value.

When Lemuel  Gulliver sets out on his third voyage into the Pacific Ocean, he expects to fare better then on his previous journeys, though this is not the case when his ship is attacked by pirates and he is marooned on a strange island. Shortly after he arrives on the island, Gulliver is taken aboard the flying city of Laputa, that hovers like a bird perpetually above the island below. Here, Gulliver finds a race of people that excel in science and music, but are unable to combine these skills to create anything of significance; their creativity is put to use in an entirely different area than their intellect allowing everything that is created on Laputa to lack real importance. The Laputian art, sciences, and even government, though they are advanced in their own right, have numerous flaws and are unable to be put to practical use.  Though they were able to create a levitating society, it was once almost extirpated when a city on the main island rebelled against the corrupted government.   Laputa is a society that is highly advanced in the key components of creation, but because they fail to combine them, their innovations are worth nothing.

Down below the floating city of Laputa lies an affable town referred to as Lindalino that is completely oriented with science, but doesn't have any scientific knowledge. When Gulliver visits these people, he is alarmed by what he sees; the most respected scientists are proposing a plan that is utterly preposterous. As an experiment, the scientists are searching for senators from different political parties who have the same sized head to volunteer to have their brains cut in half and then partially swapped into the partner's skull in order to let the brains duke it out in one secluded area. This idea seems completely insane to anyone who has a small amount of knowledge because it would kill the senators, but the citizens of Lindalino don't possess any form of practical intelligence, so the idea seems entirely reasonable. The idea that is presented here has a high amount of creativity, but lacks the scientific knowledge that would allow it to succeed. Lindalino is a perfect example of what happens when an idea rejects the key components of academic integrity and originality.

 Leonardo Da Vinci is commonly referred to as one of the most innovative people in history, who made significant advancements in art and science. Possibly the most famous painting on Earth, the Mona Lisa, was created by Da Vinci and is a perfect balance of scientific anatomy of the human body and artistic talent. On the more scientific side, Da Vinci was centuries ahead of his time, designing machines that wouldn't be built for another three hundred years.  Demonstrated in his plans are machines of flight, machines of transportation, and machines of war. The ideas that were experimented with by Da Vinci were the perfect blend of groundbreaking creativity and innovative science that made them truly have value.

Some people are  Laputians, some people are  citizens of Lindalino, and a very few people are Leonardo Da Vincis. Some people require creativity, some people require science, and only a minute amount of people employ both in such a way that they produce something of merit. These people and their creations are the true value of the human society.

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Separately -

Art is Life,

Science is Death.

Separately -

Art is creativity,

Science is textbook.

Separately -

Art is unique,

Science is common.

Separately -

Art is personal,

Science is conformity.

Separately -

Art and science are ingredients.

Together -

Art and science are a recipe, a combination,

That creates Gold.