Visualization in the Age of Computerization (original) (raw)

2015, Routledge Studies in Science, Technology and Society

Digitalization and computerization are now pervasive in science. This has deep consequences for our understanding of scientific knowledge and of the scientific process, and challenges longstanding assumptions and traditional frameworks of thinking of scientific knowledge. Digital media and computational processes challenge our conception of the way in which perception and cognition work in science, of the objectivity of science, and the nature of scientific objects. They bring about new relationships between science, art and other visual media, and new ways of practicing science and organizing scientific work. Not least, new visual media are being adopted by science studies scholars in their own practice. This volume gathers together thirteen contributions from science studies scholars from anthropology, visual studies and the sociology, history and philosophy of science, reflecting on the way that scientists use images in this age of computerization, and on the way digital technologies are affecting the study of science. Contributors were involved with the Oxford University conference in 2011, 'Visualisation in the Age of Computerisation', and include: Chiara Amrosio, Anne Beaulieu, Andreas Birkbak, Annamaria Carusi, Lisa Cartwright, Matt Edgeworth, Peter Galison, Aud Sissel Hoel, Torben Elgaard Jensen, Michael Lynch, Anders Koed Madsen, Anders Kristian Munk, David Ribes, Kathryn de Ridder-Vignone, Tom Schilling, Alma Steingart, Timothy Webmoor, Steve Woolgar, Albena Yaneva REVIEWS: "The STS perspective provides a thoughtful counterpoint in the midst of rapid technological change across science and engineering . . .The editors provide a strong introductory essay that sets a clear context for the various essays that follow, and the quality of the writing across the book is very high. The articles are specialized and intended for readers with strong backgrounds in STS." - R. A. Kolvoord, James Madison University