Overview

"In science and technology, the images used to depict ideas, data, and reactions can be as striking and explosive as the concepts and processes they embody-both works of art and generative forces in their own right. Drawing on a close dialogue between the histories of art, science, and technology, The Technical Image explores these images not as mere illustrations or examples, but as productive agents and distinctive, multilayered elements of the process of generating knowledge. Using beautifully reproduced visuals, this book not only reveals how scientific images play a constructive role in shaping the findings and insights they illustrate, but also-however mechanical or detached from individual researchers' choices their appearances may be-how they come to embody the styles of a period, a mindset, a research collective, or a device. Opening with a set of key questions about artistic representation in science, technology, and medicine, The Technical Image then investigates historical case studies focusing on specific images, such as James Watson's models of genes, drawings of Darwin's finches, and images of early modern musical automata. These case studies in turn are used to illustrate broad themes ranging from ""Digital Images"" to ""Objectivity and Evidence"" and to define and elaborate upon fundamental terms in the field. Taken as a whole, this collection will provide analytical tools for the interpretation and application of scientific and technological imagery."

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9780226258843

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Reviews

Not only is the objectivity of scientific images . . . challenged, but the accounts here of technical histories, evaluation practices, iconographical traditions, and modes of perception make even clearer the constructive character of the images. For all that such images are expected to be self-evident and to follow rules of repetition and verifiability, like experiments, it is nevertheless--or, even better, therefore--the case that manipulated images often generate better scientific results in the eyes of the scientists. . . . The volume deserves to be treated as an indispensable research tool. --Mirjam Brusius, University of Cambridge British Journal for the History of Science

Not only is the objectivity of scientific images... challenged, but the accounts here of technical histories, evaluation practices, iconographical traditions, and modes of perception make even clearer the constructive character of the images. For all that such images are expected to be self-evident and to follow rules of repetition and verifiability, like experiments, it is nevertheless-or, even better, therefore-the case that manipulated images often generate better scientific results in the eyes of the scientists.... The volume deserves to be treated as an indispensable research tool. (British Journal for the History of Science)

Author Information

"Horst Bredekamo is professor of art history at the Humboldt University of Berlin and a permanent fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin. Vera Dunkel is a scholarly assistant with the ""Das Technische Bild"" research project. Birgit Schneider is the Dilthey Fellow of the Fritz Thyssen Foundation at the Institute for Arts and Media, University of Potsdam."

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