After 35 years of lecturing and researching, “you get fed up. It becomes boring!” says Abraham Tamir. So, for the past 10 years, the professor of chemical engineering at Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva, Israel, who has published 10 books and 165 scientific articles, has been lecturing, setting up exhibitions—including a museum at his own institution—and writing columns on the interplay between art and science.
“I am always looking, looking, looking,” he says. “If I go to an art gallery, I’m looking for science in the art.” Unlike some artists and scientists who explore connections between the fields, Tamir is not looking for art that derives from science or mathematics. Instead, he looks for ways that art illustrates scientific concepts. His goals, he says, are to get people to appreciate art more and to understand science better. Recently, Physics Today asked Tamir about his newfound passion.
PT: How did...
