Science and poetry ... why combine them?
Poetry can warm up cold, analytical scientific concepts. It can add comfort, emotion, humor and imagination -- flesh and blood -- to the scientific bones.
Poetry can provide a bridge to scientific concepts, which aren't always easily grasped. Poets can also offer valuable insights into science that may be lost on everyone else. Poets and scientists have different standards for what is "truth" even though both love and study the natural world.
To make sense of life and our humanity, we need poetic as well as scientific explanations and interpretations. Scientists and poets look at things that other people see, and see something totally different. It's valuable to hear both interpretations.
The tradition of expressing the wonder of science in poetry is time-honored, and goes back to ancient Rome.
Poetry needs to address the issues of our day to stay relevant—that includes science.