But I’m going off the road here. Maybe, maybe LV matters so much to me simply because I’m such a fan of The Earth and this is the world’s coolest green vehicle? No, no, no. It’s more. So much more. If I am ever to get to the bottom of this, I need to go back to the beginning, when Art and Science first shook hands, and became friends: The Age of Romanticism. Come with me.
During The Age of Romanticism, Wordsworth suggested that imagination was the faculty that not only allowed us to truly perceive the world around us, but also, to create it. To create it. Coleridge took it even farther, calling the imagination “intellecutal intuition,” with the unique power to join reason and feeling. [1]
The Age of Romanticism was, of course, imagination’s golden age. And LincVolt is, of course, its modern day, heavy metal embodiment, representing the most graceful intersection of art and science, where imagination invites reason to dance. Ah. And here is where I begin to unravel the mystery of LincVolt’s place in my heart, I think; why this old-new car is more important to me, and to the world, than a passing fancy. By way of its very existence, LincVolt defies conventional wisdom, and leaps the guardrail of mainstream thinking. LincVolt’s engagement of our imagination, with its unique alchemy of past, present, and future, moves us beyond thinking, all the way to feeling. Beyond understanding to knowing. To the place where all great scientific discovery, all revolution, really begins: the heart.
According to Gerald Holton, a Professor of Physics and Professor of The History of Science Emeritus at Harvard University, Albert Einstein believed wholeheartedly in the power of the imagination, and “intellectual intuition.” In a famous speech of 1918, Einstein suggested that "the elusive, additional element needed for high achievement in science is a 'state of feeling' in the researcher, which he called 'akin to that of … one who is in love.'" [2] Hmm. I know that feeling. Leave it to Einstein to hit the nail on the head. This is exactly what I am trying to get at with LincVolt. I’m drawn to her. I feel that something is very right here, but I am no scientist. I would be hard pressed to tell you exactly what. But the very sight of her fills me with wonder. Excitement! Hope. I can feel it.
Article comments
1 - Lisa McKay
Speaking of poetry and sparks, Karen, this is a wonderful article. Thanks for writing it -- you've managed to take an important, but invariable dry, topic and make it speak to the imagination (not unlike the LincVolt itself). Thank you!
2 - thrasher
Hi K,
Nice. Very nice.
The LV crew is smiling somewhere up above.
We've had another fork in the road.
Got to get back to the garden, the age of romanticism and the age of wonder.
bye, LA. LMYR.
out where the pavement turns to sand,
t
3 - Geldolf
I love articles that can keep a story personal and intimate while still discussing larger and more complex issues. It makes traditional dry material come alive. Susan Sontag and HS Thompson are two other writers that come to mind who have that gift. Keep on writing in the free world
4 - Eileen F.
Wow. Great stuff, Karen. I just ordered James Hillman's "The Soul's Code" on amazon and then read this! I'm sure this extensive experimentation with electricity is as coded in Mr. Young's DNA, as writing is in yours. Now, if *I* can just figure out what I was put here for... : )
5 - Deadbeat Dads
Great story. How's the project coming? Do you have progress pics on here somewhere?