ABSTRACT
The idea that scientific and non-scientific writing might have much in common is neither especially remarkable nor particularly new. The very fact that so much effort has been invested into differentiating art from science since Plato's Republic would suggest a proximity that was disquieting – at least to some audiences who demanded a clearer demarcation between the two. At the same time, there were always voices like that of Giambattista Vico, intent on abolishing this difference. Anyone keen on periodization as a sense-making device would be able to discern periods when one or the other school of thought was in ascendance.
