Science and Aesthetics

Think of a scientific research facility. Now tell me what image comes to mind. Tell me if any of these are part of it?

• High walls and secrecy - No visitors
• Animal testing
• An asceptic building with whirring computers and lab-coated men and women walking around briskly
• Complicated hi tech equipment

Why does science have to be so anti-thetical to aesthetics and the idea of nature? How about a real ecosystem? I wish our parks could be converted into educative experiences. Living in the garden city of bangalore, I feel sad. Why cant school children spend a couple of hours a week in the local gardens, learning how life needs to be nurtured, learning to reconnect, adopting a plant for themselves?

Here is a write up about a place where science and aesthetics merge, the Institute of Ecosystem Studies