Scientific Visualization: From Galileo to DNA and Black Holes

Visualization has been central to the development of science over the last 400 years, from Galileo through DNA to black holes. From diagrams and thought experiments through traces, photographs and film, the ability to picture, and reproduce, images of scientific phenomena has shaped our understanding of the natural world. Drawing on astronomy, physics, and bio-medicine, this course will explore visualization in science historically, epistemologically, and sociologically. How has the scientific image shaped standards of demonstration, opened new ways of knowing, and accompanied the development of the very idea of scientific objectivity.

Tuesdays at 9:00-11:45 AM with Professor Peter Galison