Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but is it also in science?
Brandon Vaidyanathan, professor of sociology at the Catholic University of America, takes a closer look.
Dr. Brandon Vaidyanathan is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Institutional Flourishing Lab at The Catholic University of America. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia and HEC Montreal respectively, and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Notre Dame. His research examines the cultural dimensions of religious, commercial, and scientific institutions, and has been widely published in peer-reviewed journals. He is also Founder of Beauty at Work, a media platform which includes a podcast and YouTube channel.
Science is a Quest for Beauty
Many of us associate science with words like rational, analytical, or methodical. But what about beautiful?
It might seem surprising to juxtapose beauty and science, but my research finds that beauty plays a central role in scientific inquiry. My team and I conducted the world’s first large-scale study of beauty in science, surveying nearly 3,500 scientists across four countries. We found that beauty shapes their work in three distinct ways.
First, sensory beauty—the intricate patterns of a cell under a microscope or the awe-inspiring symmetries of the universe—draws many scientists to their fields in the first place.
Second, useful beauty is when scientists rely on beauty as a heuristic or shortcut. For instance, they may see the simplicity and elegance of a theory as an indicator of its truth, though these qualities aren’t always reliable.
The most profound motivator, however, is the beauty of understanding—those “aha” moments of insight when we uncover the hidden order or inner logic of things. The scientists we interviewed described such understanding as a profound aesthetic experience. And nearly 95 percent in our study reported experiencing this kind of beauty in their work.
Yet, not all of science is beautiful. Scientists often contend with toxic work environments, unhealthy competition, and burnout. Many leave the profession altogether as a result. Those who persist are often sustained by the beauty at the heart of their quest. But we need to do more.
By recognizing the central role of beauty in science, we can better understand not only why scientists do what they do but how we can better support their quest for discovery. This beauty doesn’t just inspire—it’s essential for keeping science alive, creative, and thriving.
Read More:
Work and Well-Being in Science
[Aeon] – How the Search for Beauty Drives Scientific Enquiry
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