The art of innovation - Ian Blatchford

Based on the landmark Radio 4 series, this beautifully illustrated
modern history of the connections between science and art offers a new
perspective on what that relationship has contributed to the world
around us.
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Throughout history, artists and scientists
have been driven by curiosity and the desire to experiment. Both have
wanted to make sense of the world around them, often to change it,
sometimes working closely together, certainly taking inspiration from
each other's disciplines. The relationship between the two has
traditionally been perceived as one of love and hate, fascination and
revulsion, symbiotic but antagonistic. But art is crucial to helping us
understand our science legacy and science is well served by applying an
artistic lens. How exactly has the ingenuity of science and technology
been incorporated into artistic expression? And how has creative
practice, in turn, stimulated innovation and technological change?

The Art of Innovation is
a history of the past 250 years viewed through the disciplines of art
and science. Through fascinating stories that explore the sometimes
unexpected relationships between famous artworks and significant
scientific and technological objects - from Constable's cloudscapes and
the chemist who first measured changes in air pressure, to the
introduction of photography and the representation of natural history in
print - it offers a new way of seeing, studying and interpreting the
extraordinary world around us.