Why science needs musicians
Musicians influence science and scientists in many different ways!
A few weeks ago, I gave a talk at the Francis Crick Institute in London. This is one of the world’s top research institutes, but I was there to talk about why science needs musicians, at a half-day music symposium.
This is a short summary of my talk, listing some of the ways that musicians are influencing science.
Scientists making music
In 2015 I ran a survey in which over 700 people shared the level at which they were involved in either music or science. A large number of them were involved in both. Often these were full-time scientists with a music hobby (more on that later), and some of them were in bands where they made music with other scientists.
Music as part of science culture
Sometimes these scientist bands perform at conferences, in front of their science colleagues. People you normally only see in a meeting or a lecture are suddenly on stage, singing and playing guitar. These performances contribute to the culture of the field, by making it slightly more personable and less formal.