#  Scientific Visualization: From Galileo to DNA and Black Holes 

 





 Semester:   Spring 

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 Year offered:  2026 

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 Link: [Course Website](https://canvas.harvard.edu/courses/165513) 

 

 

 

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



 

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    ![Course poster with background graphic of photograph through a microscope of colorful micro crystals.](/sites/g/files/omnuum9516/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/2026-01/Scientific%20Visualization%20Poster-3.jpeg?itok=67jwTool) 

 



 

  

##  Course Instructor 

 



  [### Peter L. Galison

 ](/people/peter-galison)Joseph Pellegrino University Professor

 

 

 

      ![professional headshot of Peter Galison](/sites/g/files/omnuum9516/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-10/Galison%2C%20Peter.jpg?h=c809502e&itok=1CHEf2Jz)