Book Review: Visual Representations in Science (original) (raw)
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Visual Representation and Science: Editors' Introduction
Spontaneous generations, 2012
There is no subscription or membership fee. Spontaneous Generations provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. * The authors would like to thank Agnes Bolinska and Isaac Record for their helpful advice. Ari Gross is a PhD candidate at the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology at the University of Toronto. His primary research is on the history and philosophy of diagrams of "invisible" objects, although he also holds a strong interest in anatomical representations. He is also co-curator of the University of Toronto Scientific Instrument Collection (www.utsic.org). Eleanor Louson is a PhD student in Science and Technology Studies at York University. Her current research deals with wildlife films and their representation of animal behaviour.
Background: The use of visual representations (i.e., photographs, diagrams, models) has been part of science, and their use makes it possible for scientists to interact with and represent complex phenomena, not observable in other ways. Despite a wealth of research in science education on visual representations, the emphasis of such research has mainly been on the conceptual understanding when using visual representations and less on visual representations as epistemic objects. In this paper, we argue that by positioning visual representations as epistemic objects of scientific practices, science education can bring a renewed focus on how visualization contributes to knowledge formation in science from the learners’ perspective. Results: This is a theoretical paper, and in order to argue about the role of visualization, we first present a case study, that of the discovery of the structure of DNA that highlights the epistemic components of visual information in science. The second case study focuses on Faraday’s use of the lines of magnetic force. Faraday is known of his exploratory, creative, and yet systemic way of experimenting, and the visual reasoning leading to theoretical development was an inherent part of the experimentation. Third, we trace a contemporary account from science focusing on the experimental practices and how reproducibility of experimental procedures can be reinforced through video data. Conclusions: Our conclusions suggest that in teaching science, the emphasis in visualization should shift from cognitive understanding—using the products of science to understand the content—to engaging in the processes of visualization. Furthermore, we suggest that is it essential to design curriculum materials and learning environments that create a social and epistemic context and invite students to engage in the practice of visualization as evidence, reasoning, experimental procedure, or a means of communication and reflect on these practices. Implications for teacher education include the need for teacher professional development programs to problematize the use of visual representations as epistemic objects that are part of scientific practices. Keywords: Visual representations; Epistemic practices; Science learning
… : A Journal for …, 2012
SUAY-MATALLANA, I., CUENCA-LORENTE, M., (2012), “Visual Representations in Science”: Review of the 6th European Spring School on History of Science and Popularization: International Workshop, May 19-21 2011, Maó, Menorca, Spain, Spontaneous Generations: A Journal for the History and Philosophy of Science, 6, (1), 245-251. (ISSN: 1913-0465)
Making the Visual Visible in Philosophy of Science
As data-intensive and computational science become increasingly established as the dominant mode of conducting scientific research, visualisations of data and of the outcomes of science become increasingly prominent in mediating knowledge in the scientific arena. This position piece advocates that more attention should be paid to the epistemological role of visualisations beyond their being a cognitive aid to understanding, but as playing a crucial role in the formation of evidence for scientific claims. The new generation of computational and informational visualisations and imaging techniques challenges the philosophy of science to re-think its position on three key distinctions: the qualitative/quantitative distinction, the subjective/objective distinction, and the causal/non-causal distinction.
Antonie van leeuwenhoek, (DOI) 10.1007/s10482-013-9951-z , 2013
The connections between biological sciences, art and printed images are of great interest to the author. She reflects on the historical relevance of visual representations for science. She argues that the connection between art and science seems to have diminished during the twentieth century. However, this connection is currently growing stronger again through digital media and new imaging methods. Scientific illustrations have fuelled art, while visual modeling tools have assisted scientific research. As a print media artist, she explores the relationship between art and science in her studio practice and will present this historical connection with examples related to evolution, microbiology and her own work. Art and science share a common source, which leads to scrutiny and enquiry. Science sets out to reveal and explain our reality, whereas art comments and makes connections that don’t need to be tested by rigorous protocols. Art and science should each be evaluated on their own merit. Allowing room for both in the quest to understand our world will lead to an enriched experience.
Scientific illustration —an indispensable tool for knowledge transmission
Nature has been the object of representation by man since the dawn of humankind. Over time the representation of nature (illustration) has been addressed to fulfil different objectives (i.e., from religious, or totemic, to scientific, educational and/or technological) becoming an indispensable tool at the service of science and human knowledge in the present, i.e. visual scientific communication. This essay analyses the historic relevance of scientific illustration as well as its evolving synergy with science until becoming inseparable matters of knowledge transmission, a universal language, a way of (de)codification scientific discourse; and how, despite the new available technology devoted to representation (e.g., photography) due to the basic principle of scientific illustration: the representation of the archetype, or intangible idea, of each specie as an human concept and never as a concrete individual, even a quite representative one. The possibility of even translate human thoughts (interpretations) is well exemplified in reconstructed extinct beings (overcoming time scale and fatality of inexistence) to astronomic phenomena or even tiny molecules that are far away from our visual capacity (overcoming dimensional scale).
The epistemic representation: visual production and communication of scientific knowledge
Multidisciplinary Journal for Education, Social and Technological Sciences, 2015
Despite its great influence on the History of Science, visual representations have attracted marginal interest until very recently and have often been regarded as a simple aid for mere illustration or scientific demonstration. However, it has been shown that visualization is an integral element of reasoning and a highly effective and common heuristic strategy in the scientific community and that the study of the conditions of visual production and communication are essential in the development of scientific knowledge. In this paper we deal with the nature of the various forms of visual representation of knowledge that have been happening throughout the history of science, taking as its starting point the illustrated monumental works and three-dimensional models that begin to develop within the scientific community around the fifteenth century. The main thesis of this paper is that any scientific visual representations have common elements that allow us to approach them from epistemic nature, heuristic and communicative dimension.