Picturing Science: Role of Images in Discovery and Communication

This lecture explores the role of images in science, discussing their pedagogical, epistemological, and metaphysical significance. It delves into historical examples like Johannes de Ketham's manuscript illumination, Robert Hooke's 'Micrographia', and the illustrations of Maria Sibylla Merian and Ernst Haeckel. The instructor examines the use of drawings, graphs, and diagrams in communicating scientific concepts, emphasizing the non-transparency of images and the influence of theoretical assumptions and graphical techniques on depiction. The lecture also contrasts geometric and algebraic methods of teaching, and debates between Heisenberg and Schrödinger on visualizability in quantum theory.