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Artist Roger Wagner and physicist Andrew Briggs present the book "The Penultimate Curiosity".

The authors defend the relationship between the human desire for transcendence and the inquiry that humans have made into nature throughout history.

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From left to right, Roger Wagner, Andrew Briggs, Javier Sánchez Cañizares, María Iraburu and Nieves Acedo. PHOTO: Manuel Castells
12/04/18 12:14 Maria M. Orbegozo

The artist Roger Wagner and the physicist Andrew Briggs have presented at the University of Navarra their book. "The Penultimate Curiositya work that reflects the concerns of human beings about the universe and their way of expressing it in different ways. Written jointly, the authors defend the mutual influence between human beings' desire for transcendence -the ultimate curiosity- and the inquiry they have made into nature over the centuries, with human activities such as science or art -something the authors call the penultimate curiosity-.

As Wagner stated in his speech, "man has always had a desire for transcendence and, in his search, he has delved into nature. It is a deep connection that has also inspired scientific behavior: the curiosity of the natural world and a curiosity beyond the universe, its spiritual roots". In this sense, the British artist has pointed out that since prehistoric times there is evidence of a relationship between art and religion: "We know that primitive communities carried out religious ceremonies. The impulses that motivated these first men to draw in the caves were religious, but at the same time they were exercising their curiosity to know the natural environment". He also highlighted the multidisciplinarity with which he considers the University of Navarra works, where science, Philosophy and art share different projects: "It is interesting to see how such different disciplines can interrelate and this multidisciplinarity is precisely what the book is about".

For his part, Andrew Briggs, professor at department of Materials at the University of Oxford, pointed out that, in a way, "science works to try to understand how God works". A spiritual concern that drove the origins of this academic institution, as he said: "We are interested in the fundamental questions of the human being, so we relate experimental science to the big questions about human existence. Behind our work, which is purely scientific, lies the fundamental question: What is reality?

The roundtable, presented and moderated by Javier Sánchez Cañizares, director of the "group Science, Reason and Faith" (CRYF), also counted with the intervention of María Iraburu, Vice President of academic staff of the University of Navarra and Nieves Acedo, manager of the academic area of the Museum of the University of Navarra. With a degree in Biological Sciences and a doctorate from department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Iraburu celebrated the book's vision of science: "I liked the open vision of the authors, who present science as a knowledge no less real than art, as different ways of thinking and approaching an ultimate reality. That is what our students are looking for: a broad knowledge , which is not closed, so we have a great opportunity to be able to share discoveries and knowledge". In this sense, the manager of the academic area of the University of Navarra Museum, Nieves Acedo, has affirmed that "this book brings to campus the main goal of the University of Navarra Museum: learning to look at the world".

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