No matter how much we don’t want to admit it, different areas of study rely on each other. Which is why interdisciplinary studies are so important; the intertwining of various disciplines are essential for full intellectual success. Although some scholars would beg to differ, like Leavis, Literature needs Science, Math, and History just as much as those three areas rely on English. Certain scholars, like Snow, wanted to join literature and science as their own interdisciplinary study. In the book Interdisciplinarity, Snow is described as believing that, “both fields were impoverished by their ignorance of each other” (Moran 135). I fully agree with this statement. Both literary scholars and scientists are missing out on a whole new way of thinking if they refuse to learn anything else outside of their beloved fields. The more stubborn the opposing fields are, the more ignorance they are gaining.
Now, I know what you’re probably thinking. Why in the world would an English major need to know that nitric acid mixed with hydrazine may cause a fire or explosion? Or, why would a Bio-Chem major need to know that Shakespeare frequently used rhyming couplets in his plays? There are two reasons. One, is purely because gaining any type knowledge can be argued as good knowledge. Who only wants to have vast information on only one subject? That can make for pretty boring conversations. And second, is because the skill sets that both types of thinkers acquire is relevant to the other field. For example, scientists need literary studies in order to better communicate their ideas to their intended audiences. In the nineteenth century, Darwin tried to communicate his ideas to a non-specialized audience by making references to ‘shared stories’ of the period like the Bible and other literature to help the common worker understand the complexity of his ideas (Moran 145). Plus, without commonly practiced techniques used in Literary fields like interpretation and imagination, advances in science would probably not be around today. If it wasn’t for scientists dreaming up fantastic futures with endless possibilities, no one would have had the ambition to venture out and discover new things. This idea is still relevant today. Like in mathematics, we know that there are an infinite amount of numbers, and we also know that some problems are unable to be solved. Without amazing mathematicians using interpretation and creativity to figure why this is so, we may never find out why certain problems are unsolvable. Interdisciplinarity states that if scientists are to be truly successful, ”…they are much more likely to use intuition, interpretation, guesswork and ‘thought experiments’ alongside empirical observation” (Moran 142).
Not only does science rely on common literary qualities and techniques, but the same goes for literary studies relying on the sciences. English majors need a vast amount of knowledge in many subjects in order to make any of their stories or arguments relevant and believable. For example, science fiction authors rely heavily on scientific terms and imagination of future technology. This makes their novels more realistic and enjoyable for their readers. When authors add in real scientific language to their fictional novels, it makes the story seem all the more real and it gives the reader the ability to imagine a world as amazing as the author dreamt up on the pages. English majors not only rely on heavy duty sci-fi, but also on subjects like geography and history. Writers and literary analyzers need to have knowledge on cultures and geography in order to make their books better. There are so many stories about certain cultures and past events in history. Plus, geography is important to any story because it could be a major influence on the setting and the plot. These subjects can be useful for things like travel writing or journalism. Plus, much of literature is about nature and the world around us. A lot of poetry is about man’s relationship with nature and ecocritism.
Obviously, there could be some problems in regards to mixing the english discipline with other areas of study. For example, one science scholar mentioned in Interdisciplinarity that, “Anyone who believed that the laws of physics were open to interpretation… was welcome to interpret them by jumping out of his twenty-first-floor apartment window” (Moran 143). Although this remark makes it point quite clearly, and it’s truth is shown in the language, it is also true that we would not have the current advances we do in physics today without past interpretation. In addition, not everything in physics has truly been discovered, like anti-matter. Hopefully, with teamwork between the disciplines, impossible dreams like the theory of everything and wholly original texts can be possible. Different thinkers with different techniques need each other in order to accomplish intellectual success.
The Hunger Games trilogy written by Suzanne Collins is a great example of literature being intwined with geography, culture, technology, and history. Although these aspects Collins made up, like the world of Panem and an arena that uses technology to kill of the players, it still enforces the idea that a deathly arena could be possible.