Rupert Sheldrake & David Glowacki - From Science to the Sacred
Dave GlowackiDavid Glowacki is originally from Milwaukee. He study all kinds of things, and sometimes manages to connect a few dots. He has appointments as a Royal Society Research Fellow and Philip Leverhulme Fellow at the University of Bristol. He head’s up an eclectic academic research group called the ‘Intangible Realities Laboratory’ (IRL), which is joint between the Centre for Computational Chemistry and the Department of Computer Science. He is a resident at Bristol’s Pervasive Media Studio, a digital research community that brings together artists, engineers, and scientists. In 2013, he founded a company called Interactive Scientific, who focus on developing next-generation digital tools for science education. In 2018, he founded Simulitix, who specialize in developing virtual reality platforms for real-time simulation in nanotech research and engineering.Over the years, he has become increasingly interested in what he calls ‘the aesthetics of scientific imagination’ – i.e., the “design” decisions entailed in scientific visualization. This is particularly important in domains which cannot be seen with the naked eye, because our scientific intuition is guided by the aesthetic representations we use to imagine phenomena which are otherwise invisible. In fact he would almost go so far to claim that imagery is the reality in these domains, profoundly impacting how we communicate these ‘realities’, in both research & educational contexts. Over the last few years, his groups work in digital art has in fact driven a range of scientific research outcomes – e.g., the algorithms his group have designed to make artworks have been fast enough to accelerate our molecular research. He likes this research paradigm, with aesthetic enquiry and scientific enquiry locked in mutual dialogue, each pushing one another into new territories.Rupert SheldrakeRupert Sheldrake is a biologist and author of more than 90 scientific papers and 9 books, and the co-author of 6 books. His books have been published in 28 languages. He was among the top 100 Global Thought Leaders for 2013, as ranked by the Duttweiler Institute, Zurich, Switzerland's leading think tank. On ResearchGate, the largest scientific and academic online network, his RG score of 33.5 puts him among the top 7.5% of researchers, based on citations of his peer-reviewed publications. On Google Scholar, the many citations of his work give him a high h-index of 38, and an i10 index of 102.His recent books include: The Science Delusion in the UK and Science Set Free in the US, examines the ten dogmas of modern science, and shows how they can be turned into questions that open up new vistas of scientific possibility. This book received the Book of the Year Award from the British Scientific and Medical Network. His two most recent books Science and Spiritual Practices and Ways to Go Beyond And Why They Work are about rediscovering ways of connecting with the more-than-human world through direct experience.Since 1985, he has taught every year on courses at Schumacher College, in Devon, England, and has been part of the faculty for the MSc in Holistic Science programme since its inception in 1998. In 2000, he was the Steinbach Scholar in Residence at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. From 2003-2011, Visiting Professor and Academic Director of the Holistic Thinking Program at the Graduate Institute, Connecticut, USA. In 2005, Visiting Professor of Evolutionary Science at the Wisdom University, Oakland, California. From 2005-2010 he was the Director of the Perrott-Warrick Project, funded from Trinity College, Cambridge University. He is currently a Fellow of the Institute of Noetic Sciences in California, a Fellow of Schumacher College in Devon, England, and a Fellow of the Temenos Academy, London.The Fintry TrustThe Fintry Trust is an educational charity dedicated to the study and teaching of ideal philosophy, science, art and religion. At its headquarters in Surrey it organises study days, talks and retreats, emphasising the universal ideas which underlie all religions and all knowledge.For more information about Isness the VR journey referenced at the end of the Podcast please refer to: www.artsci.international
