There is a familiar idea that science and wonder exist on opposite sides of a divide: the artist looks at a flower and sees beauty, while the scientist sees cells, pigments, molecules and biological systems. Richard Feynman never accepted that distinction.
For the celebrated American physicist, understanding how something works did not make it less beautiful. If anything, knowledge opened more doors to wonder. A flower could be admired for its colour and shape, but knowing how its structures evolved, how light interacts with its pigments or how its cells function could make the same flower even more extraordinary.
