On the Aesthetics of Scientific Experimentation

We usually think of aesthetic experiences as belonging to our engagement with artistic products such as paintings, sculptures, literature, and music, or nature itself. But science can be a source of a wide range of aesthetic experiences, and scientific pursuits in their turn can be shaped by aesthetic judgements. In this piece, I explore how scientific experimentation, through the choice of design, production of results, performance, and creative agency, is both shaped by aesthetic judgements and a source of a broad range of aesthetic experiences. The piece reflects why the aesthetic dimension of scientific practice matters in the production of knowledge.