Puma created the evoSPEED SL cleat that only weighed 99
grams which was drastically lighter than the majority of
the time period
Throughout my college journey of becoming a Business-Economic major, which has been a short process thus far as I am only a freshmen, I have been blind to the major division between the arts and science in which C.P. Snow described as the "two cultures." It's not as if I had not noticed a separation between the two, most specifically the way in which UCLA segregates Arts and Humanities to North Campus and Math and Sciences to South, but rather the constant division in most everyday life. Rather than discuss the integration of new science and technology as well as the importance of linguistic skills in business, I feel I have been relatively more impacted by these separate cultures in my athletic career. Most of my lifetime has been spent training and perfecting my art on the soccer field.
Artistic skills can take on many forms and mine happened to manifest in a more competitive and athletic environment. Even though many people may not see the connection between science and soccer in my art, there is a significant need to connect the two. I believe that soccer is, as Snow described in his lecture "The Two Cultures: and a Second Look", that bridge between the cultures. Soccer is and can be that third culture. If you take a look at the skill levels of soccer players only 15-20 years ago, you see a significant change in all aspects of the game compared to today. Not only have players gotten better due to new improvements to training regimens, but improvements in science have also lead to stronger, faster, and overall better players. Advancements in recovery medicine and training equipment have also allowed this generation of soccer players to be far better than years past.
Normatec recovery pants allow athletes to recover quicker
after tough training days to get back to work
For example, compared to the past, cleats worn by players nowadays have become significantly lighter and allow players to move and change directions at much faster speeds. None of this would have occurred if the two cultures were not integrated in the sport as they were. This combination of science and sport brings me to my reason for choosing my major, Business-Economics. Through honing both my mathematical and business communication skills, I hope to play a role in intertwining science and sport even more then ever. This means that I want my art to be able to utilize new advancements in technology such as new video-replay technology, which will allow players to study the game more in depth than ever. As Stephen Wilson said, there is a lot of confusion about the divide between arts and sciences even though "they are sometimes interrelated"; however, you can bridge the two together. After reading Snow's, Wilson's, and Professor Vesna's pieces about the separation between disciplines, it has become far more apparent to me that their is a divide; however, this gap can be closed and utilized in many different formats, including within my sport. These readings have served to not only enlighten me, but they have also inspired me to do further research with regard to the separation and find new ways to bring the cultures together.
Sources Snow, C. P. “Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.” Reading. 1959. New York: Cambridge UP, 1961. Print. Snow, C.P. The Two Cultures: And a Second Look. N.p.: n.p., 1963. Print. Nike, Nike Sport Research: The Art of Science. N.p. Web. 8 Sep. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8QIYfWsYDg> Wilson, Stephen. "Myths and Confusion in Thinking about Art/Science/Technology." Reading. 2000. NYC. Print "EvoSPEED SL Touches Down as Lightest Ever Puma Boot." The Instep, 24 June 2015.<www.soccerpro.com/theinstep/evospeed-sl-touched-down-as-lightest-ever-puma-boot/.>
I really like how you describe athletics as a bridge between art and science. I am a lacrosse player, and had never before thought of lacrosse in an artistic or scientific way. However, as with your soccer cleats, a player's lacrosse stick is a great mix of art and science - science is used to give the stick a light, aerodynamic design, and art is used to help a player express themselves through their stick, as it really does become a part of you. Thanks for helping me gain this new perspective about my sport!
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I really like how you describe athletics as a bridge between art and science. I am a lacrosse player, and had never before thought of lacrosse in an artistic or scientific way. However, as with your soccer cleats, a player's lacrosse stick is a great mix of art and science - science is used to give the stick a light, aerodynamic design, and art is used to help a player express themselves through their stick, as it really does become a part of you. Thanks for helping me gain this new perspective about my sport!
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