The worlds of science and literature, seemingly academic polar opposites, actually rely upon one another. Neither world can exist without the other and this necessary symbiosis comes to the forefront of attention in novels that draw from a scientific pool of resource. Countless literary works have been written with science being its primary theme and inspiration. They use ideas written about scientifically and use them to write a literary work of art. Many novels can be written on the same scientific idea. For example, both "Copenhagen" and "Intuition" deal with the moral implications of science and the troubles that face the members of the scientific world. In both works the results of stressed and afraid scientists play a major role in the development of the plot, this directly relates to Steven Chapin's ideas present in his work "The Scientific Life". In this piece Shapin discusses the two perceptions of scientific minds, the first being scientists as morally extraordinary and the second, scientists being morally ordinary. .
The premise of these two opposing theories is extremely applicable to the characters in both "Copenhagen" and "Intuition". The scientists in both works struggle with the morality of their projects and the consequences they have. The issue of morality plays a major driving force in both pieces. Each set of characters is faced with the moral side of their scientific work. For those in "Copenhagen" it is the development of the atomic bomb and which side of WWII the scientists are on. For the characters in "Intuition" it revolves around honesty, integrity, and the possibility of not only losing their lab but the alienation of their coworkers and friends. In "Copenhagen" Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg, have a conversation regarding the effects of using atomic energy as a weapon during WWII.
