In his seminal lecture, "The Two Cultures," delivered in 1959, the British novelist, physicist, and government science adviser C.P. Snow decried a "gulf of mutual incomprehension between science and the humanities." For Snow, this rift was "a sheer loss to us all."

On May 9, 2009, visionaries, scientists, authors and the media participated in a symposium organized by Science & the City, a program of the New York Academy of Sciences, to discuss the persistence of the "two cultures" gap and how it can be overcome.

DISCOVER was the media sponsor of the event, which featured several Discover-affiliated moderators and speakers: executive editor Corey Powell; Carl Zimmer, columnist and author of The Loom; Sheril Kirshenbaum & Chris Mooney, authors of The Intersection; and Discover contributor and ScienceCheerleader.com founder, Darlene Cavalier.

The event also included Pulitzer Prize–winner E.O. Wilson, former Congressman John Porter, and Segway inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen, among others.