The 1973 Physics for Artists Course at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.

Abstract

Numerous authors have discussed aspects of the relationships between the visual arts, science and technology in Leonardo, pointing out similarities and differences between these manifestations of human culture. As a painter and teacher with a recent but highly rewarding introduction to the physical sciences, stimulated by my attraction to developments in holography, I can strongly urge art students to explore the exciting possibilities for art offered by the natural sciences. To help student artists in this exploration, a Physics for Artists course was organized under my initiative in the autumn of 1973 for the Department of Art at the University of Nevada. I took this initiative after spending a considerable amount of time during the preceding year doing research work in the Department of Physics upon the invitation of Lon Spight, Chairman of the Department, who shared my interest in the interactions between art and science. It was, therefore, especially satisfying to me when he agreed to teach the Physics for Artists course consisting of lectures on selected topics chosen from the domains of the physical sciences.