4| Science & Poetry — Sam Illingworth

Science and poetry are sometimes caricatured as opposing paradigms: the emotional expression of the self versus the objective representation of nature. But science can be poetic, and poetry scientific. Our guest this week, Sam Illingworth, bridges these worlds. He’s researched scientists who were also poets, and organized workshops for scientists and laypeople using the medium of poetry to create an equitable and open dialogue.

In addition to being an Associate Professor at Edinburgh Napier University, Sam is the founder of Consilience, a peer-reviewed journal publishing poetry (which presents such beautifully titled gems as What You Don't See on David Attenborough is All the Waiting) and hosts the Poetry of Science podcast where, each week, he writes a poem in response to recent scientific research.

• Notes at: multiverses.xyz
• You can find Sam’s podcast, The Science of Poetry at: https://scipoetry.podbean.com/
• His website is here: https://www.samillingworth.com/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/samillingworth
• His book A Sonnet To Science