With the goal of presenting a cultural approach to science, the article discusses relations between science and art, especially between physics and painting. From this standpoint, we can see how understanding the substance of science becomes more important. Different moments in history are examined, from the scientific revolution down through the twentieth century. The relations highlighted herein are not chosen in an effort to undercover a causal relation between science and art but to arrive at a more meaningful understanding of how knowledge is constructed. Science is thus revealed to be part of culture, which can help us better understand the historical process through which we have come to this point.
history of science; art; history of physics; surrealism; impressionism; cubism; quantum mechanics; relativity