The turn of the 20th century shed new light on the importance of science and how scientific inquiry could help the greater population. Science had begun to be recognized as practical and applicable to many aspects of life: from medicine, to manufacturing, to the development of new ways of accomplishing tasks. No longer were people entirely confused by the unknowable world. Slowly the mysterious was becoming understandable through careful study and scientific research. Fin-de-siècle must have been an exciting time for both science and for mankind. No longer were we savages controlled by a magical world, which we couldn’t sway to our desires. As things became better understood, the world became more manageable. Yet the arts remained focused on the greater mysteries that science couldn’t, and probably never will be able to answer. New ideas brought …show more content…
It was an exciting time for experimentation, all triggered by the new ideas of science and industry. While science may have brought out disenchantment by the understanding of new ideas, this is always a cyclical period in mankind’s existence. We are enchanted, and then disenchanted as we become more knowledgeable, and we are re-enchanted once again. It has been that way all through history. It seems only the arts can remain enchanted by life’s larger questions, without resorting to magical thinking to explain their meaning. Mann Thomas Mann born 1874 to a well to do business owner and a German-Brazilian mother.(Kurzke 2) The family dynamic made for a lot of attention in his town, the clash of the Apollonian and Dionysian were an everyday experience for Thomas Mann growing up. He liked to use Goethe’s poem Tame Xenias when asked to describe the household his parents raised him in.(Kurzke 12) “From Father I have the stature for life’s most potent gales, From Mama the gay nature and the desire to tell