When Einstein Met Tagore: A Remarkable Meeting of Minds on the Edge of Science and Spirituality
Collision and convergence in Truth and Beauty On July 14, 1930, Albert Einstein welcomed into his home on the outskirts of Berlin the Indian philosopher, musician, and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. The two proceeded to have one of the most stimulating, intellectually riveting conversations in history, exploring the age-old friction between science and religion . Science and the Indian Tradition: When Einstein Met Tagore ( public library ) recounts the historic encounter, amidst a broader discussion of the intellectual renaissance that swept India in the early twentieth century, germinating a curious osmosis of Indian traditions and secular Western scientific doctrine. The following excerpt from one of Einstein and Tagore’s conversations dances between previously examined definitions of science , beauty , consciousness , and philosophy in a masterful meditation on the most fundamental questions of human existence. EINSTEIN: Do you believe in the Divine as isolated from the wor