Is Beauty Meaningless?

In my nearly four years in graduate consciousness studies I've repeatedly been reminded that, amid all its glorious insights, modern science insists that existence is meaningless. As someone who has come to my current appreciation of the Science of Mind philosophy through my love of science, I have always taken this with caution. After all, scientists vary in their spiritual beliefs like the rest of the population.
But this week, the starkness of that existential nihilism, that life has no meaning or intrinsic value, hit my heart full blast.
I'm in the habit of searching through the DVD collection at a local library and found there a film I've been wanting to see, the science fiction drama, Sunshine. As a sci-fi buff for over 50 years deeply enamored of our star, I just had to see the effects used to depict a mission to the sun. And they were glorious. While the film is largely a psychological drama about the stresses of the mission, the sun was a main player - gorgeous, awesomely powerful and horribly dangerous without any intention to be so.
As is my habit, I played both of the film's commentaries while puttering about and doing chores. The first commentary was a normal one with the director, Danny Boyle. I enjoy hearing about the creation of a film; it is such a totally collaborative mix of arts. The second commentary was more unusual, with Dr. Brian Cox of the University of Manchester, England, the science advisor on the film. What a treat, I thought, to hear about the dance between drama and fact from the perspective of the scientist. And it was a treat I recommend to anyone fascinated by physics and astronomy.
Amid the details of compromise, scientific rigor and personal insight Dr. Cox repeatedly spoke of the beauty of the universe and it's intrinsic elegance. He confided that this beauty is what motivated him as a scientist and stated his not so surprising belief that this beauty motivates most of his colleagues, whether they are physicists, biologists, astronomers or specialists in other sciences. Over and over again, he spoke of the beauty of nature, the beauty of the sun, the beauty of the universe. I could hear the passion in his voice, the aliveness of his words.
Then, somewhere amidst all that, he "reminded" the listeners that, of course, all this beauty is meaningless, just happened that way. He went so far as to proclain human life as meaningless too. I found myself speaking aloud to his voice on the TV. "Hey, Doc, all that beauty? Is beauty meaningless, Doc? Is elegance of no importance?" The beauty is certainly meaningful to him; he had gone on and on about it, to my delight. What about the elegance which mathematicians and experimental scientists rely on as evidence in the absence of more grounded data?
I submit that Dr. Cox and all those who insist that life is meaningless are missing the messages of their own hearts. Beauty is more that the familiarity with our surroundings down through the ages. Those who lived in Nazi concentration camps for years probably never came to see their barracks and barbed wire as beautiful.
While at some level, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, at another level it is an ultimate value. Dr. Cox never had to explain why he thinks the universe is beautiful; we all get it.
It simply is so, just as love simply is so. Those who say human life is meaningless would do well to compare the love they carry for their children, parents or life partners to their motives for being scientists. Love and beauty always will transcend the cool rationality of their work.
Quantify that love, Doc. Dissect it. Show it to me. Where is it? Do you dare to say it is meaningless? If so, I wish for you an awakening to the precious, awesome magnificence intrinsic to life, the universe, the human heart and everything.