People have always sought for ways to make sense of a random and chaotic universe--some via art, some via science, some via faith and culture. CONFLUENCE is a documentary series for public television that illuminates the ways unexpected connections between art, science, and technology have fostered creativity throughout history until today, and how understanding these synergies enables us to better understand our world.

Through a range of interconnected stories and resonant voices, CONFLUENCE illustrates the extent to which art and science are rooted in common instincts; reveal how artists and scientists often travel parallel paths and borrow from each other as they pursue their creative quests; and underscore the importance of teaching and understanding art and science -- the defining enterprises of humankind.

Viewers will meet some of today's most innovative thinkers and their work, spanning cutting-edge science, new directions in art, and the latest in popular culture. Throughout, CONFLUENCE will provide audiences with fresh perspectives and a deeper understanding of the world around them.

Simply put, science would be lost without art, and art lost without science. CONFLUENCE tells the story of how and why they always have been -- and always will be -- beautifully etched sides of the same coin.

CONFLUENCE is a production of the Center for New American Media in New York in association with the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and supported by a grant from the Priem Family Foundation. The series has been created by award-winning filmmakers Louis Alvarez and Andrew Kolker and Christopher Groban. Executive Producer is award-winning PBS veteran Marion Lear Swaybill.