TIME REPRESENTATION IN SCIENTIFIC DIAGRAMS: GALILEO GALILEI’S SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF THE MOTION OF A FALLING BODY

Рассматриваются способы научного изображения темпоральных явлений на примере чертежей Галилео Галилея, при помощи которых он описывает и исследует равноускоренное движение. Для анализа применяется концептуальная рамка теории изобразительной и неизобразительной репрезентации Грегори Карри. Показано, что в случае научных диаграмм и графиков, представляющих время как одно из измерений пространства, основанием для геометрической изобразимости времени становится полагаемый изоморфизм между временем как континуумом мгновений и линией как континуумом точек. Парадигму такого структурного сопоставления мы находим в математическом мышлении Галилея, наиболее ярко проявляющемся в доказательстве формулы равноускоренного движения, представленном в «Беседах и математических доказательствах». The textbook narrative of the scientific revolution of the 17th century says that the early modern transformation of physics and mechanics was grounded in mathematization, that is, the application of mathematical principles and procedures to physical entities and events. However, such a transformation faces a major obstacle: compared to geometry, mechanics includes an additional dimension, namely, time. When temporality of motion is to be represented geometrically, a question arises on how a temporal succession can be expressed by a static image. The problem of representation of temporal events is not limited to science. In my paper, I apply a conceptual tool elaborated by Gregory Currie for the analysis of temporal representations in art, especially in cinema, to the analysis of scientific diagrams. In his book Image and Mind. Film, Philosophy, and Cognitive Science (1995), Currie distinguishes depictive and nondepictive representations, arguing that depictive representation requires similarity and homomorphism between an object ant its representation. Thus, it seems that any non-temporal image of temporal processes would lack the required similarity and cannot be a depictive representation. However, taking into account explanations given by Galileo Galilei for his famous diagrams of accelerated motion, I argue that the representation of time in scientific diagrams as a geometrical line is grounded in isomorphism between time as a continuous structure and continuous structure of a geometrical line. The main temporal process studied by mechanics is motion. Motion can be represented in two main ways: as a trajectory of a body over some period of time or as a functional relation of various parameters of motion (speed, path, acceleration) versus time. In the latter case, time is usually represented in a diagram as a geometrical line. We can find the origin of this type of representation in the late medieval doctrine of ‘intensio et remissio qualitatum’, intension and remission of qualities, in the context of which first diagrams representing intensity and extension of velocity of nonuniform motion as a changing quality over time were produced (Nicolas Oresme). We can find very similar graphical schemes in Galileo Galilei’s works, especially in Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche intorno a due nuove scienze (1638). In this work, Galileo announces with all clarity that he considers time to be the same aggregate of temporal moments as a line is an aggregate of points: every moment of time has a corresponding point on the geometrical line. This allows us to establish a homomorphic similarity between temporal duration and spatial (geometrical) extension. Thus, the essential requirement for depictive representation is met. Concluding, I have to point out that the homomorphic relation in this case is established between not real but abstract entities. The visible line itself is a representation of non-visible abstract geometrical line; in the same way, time consisting of non-divisible moments is just an abstract construction which refers to physical of psychological time-duration. However, the established relation between abstract time and abstract geometrical lines is a grounding event of the modern physical science.

Diagram comprehension ability of college students in an introductory biology course

College biology courses commonly use diagrams to convey information. These visual representations are embedded in course materials with the expectation that students can comprehend and learn from them. Educational research, however, suggests that many students have difficulty understanding diagrams and the conventions (e.g., labels, arrows) they contain. The present study evaluates biology students’ ability to comprehend scientific diagrams and the diagram characteristics that affect this comprehension. Participants were students in a physiology course who completed a multiple-choice test of diagram comprehension ability (DCA) (Cromley JG, Perez TC, Fitzhugh SL, Newcombe NS, Wills TW, Tanaka JC. J Exp Educ 81: 511–537, 2013). We coded the conventions used in each test diagram and used these codes to capture the diagram characteristics of conventions and complexity. Descriptive analyses examine students’ ability to understand scientific diagrams and which diagram characteristics cause the most difficulty. We also compared groups with low and high DCA scores to evaluate how students at different levels of comprehension ability are affected by diagram characteristics. Results show relatively poor DCA; the average total test score was only 69.5%. The conventions used in a diagram also affected diagram comprehension, and results show students had the most difficulty comprehending diagrams using a letter or numbering system, where arbitrary letters/numbers were used to signify objects and diagrams using cut-outs that showed cross sections and magnified interior views. Additionally, students’ comprehension was higher on diagrams with higher complexity (i.e., more types of conventions used), potentially indicating students are able to take advantage of the supports that different conventions provide. Implications for instruction are identified.

Inducing Visibility and Visual Deduction

Scientists use diagrams not just to visualize objects and relations in their fields, both empirical and theoretical, but to reason with them as tools of their science. While the two dimensional space of diagrams might seem restrictive, scientific diagrams can depict many more than two elements, can be used to visualize the same materials in myriad different ways, and can be constructed in a considerable variety of forms. This article takes up two generic puzzles about 2D visualizations. First, How do scientists in different communities use 2D spaces to depict materials that are not fundamentally spatial? This prompts the distinction between diagrams that operate in different kinds of spaces: real, ideal, and artificial. And second, How do diagrams, in these different usages of 2D space, support various kinds of visual reasoning that cross over between inductive and deductive? The argument links the representational form and content of a diagram (its vocabulary and grammar) with the kinds of inferential and manipulative reasoning that are afforded, and constrained, by scientists’ different usages of 2D space.

Disambiguating “Mechanisms” in Pharmacy: Lessons from Mechanist Philosophy of Science

Talk of mechanisms is ubiquitous in the natural sciences. Interdisciplinary fields such as biochemistry and pharmacy frequently discuss mechanisms with the assistance of diagrams. Such diagrams usually depict entities as structures or boxes and activities or interactions as arrows. While some of these arrows may indicate causal or componential relations, others may represent temporal or operational orders. Importantly, what kind of relation an arrow represents may not only vary with context but also be underdetermined by empirical data. In this manuscript, we investigate how an analysis of pharmacological mechanisms in terms of producing and underlying mechanisms—as discussed in the contemporary philosophy of science—may shed light on these issues. Specifically, we shall argue that while pharmacokinetic mechanisms usually describe causal chains of production, pharmacodynamics tends to focus on mechanisms of action underlying the in vivo effects of a drug. Considering the action of thyroid gland hormones in the human body as a case study, we further demonstrate that pharmacodynamic schemes tend to incorporate entities and interactions on multiple levels. Yet, traditional pharmacodynamic schemes are sketched “flat”, i.e., non-hierarchically. We suggest that transforming flat pharmacodynamic schemes into mechanistic multi-level representations may assist in disentangling the different kinds of mechanisms and relations depicted by arrows in flat schemes. The resulting Baumkuchen model provides a powerful and practical alternative to traditional flat schemes, as it explicates the relevant mechanisms and relations more clearly. On a more general note, our discussion demonstrates how pharmacology and related disciplines may benefit from applying concepts from the new mechanist philosophy to guide the interpretation of scientific diagrams.

Authorship and language in contemporary architects' books

This paper examines theoretical, graphical, and material dimensions of the contemporary print culture of architecture with a focus on one work from a variety of European practices. It regards the contemporary architect's book as a speculative and discursive design object. Michel Foucault, particularly in his works, What is an Author? (1969) and The Archaeology of Knowledge (1972), criticises that while constructing an author's body of works, alternative and unclassified genres are omitted from the domain and the texts attached to the single name belong to a system of homogeneity, filiation, and reciprocal explanation. Yet the contemporary architect's book expands the borders of genres by comprising unconventional materials, such as musical notes, artistic photographs, paintings, technical and scientific diagrams, official reports, building regulations, newspaper articles, and advertisements, as well as combining texts and photographs from co-workers, partners, clients, and users, rather than emerging as the product of a single author. The paper interprets the use of various forms of graphical narration and the coalescence of novel terminology and jargon as a contribution to the power of language and discursive formation.

Screen navigation system for visually impaired people

Purpose The SETUP09 system consists of both navigation and a computer-aided drawing technique for people who are blind and visually impaired (BVI). The purpose of this paper is to address the need for a screen navigation technique, which can facilitate a user’s ability to produce art, and scientific diagrams electronically, by introducing a compass-based screen navigation method. Design/methodology/approach BVI computer users were tested using different screen navigation tasks to assess the accuracy and efficiency of this compass-based navigation technique by using a prototype (SETUP09) and tactile paper grid maps. Findings The results confirmed that the compass-based navigation facilitates higher accuracy in screen-based moving and location recognition with a noticeable reduction in time and effort. Research limitations/implications Improvements such as the addition of a sound layer to the interface, use of hotkeys, braille and user speech inputs are yet to be tested. Social implications The current lack of suitable and efficient screen navigation technology is a limiting factor for BVI students and computer users in producing diagrams and drawings. This may place limitations on their career progression and life contentment. It is challenging for a BVI person to draw diagrams and art, which are commonly taught in education or used in industry. The compass-based screen navigation system was developed to address BVI users’ need to be able to create such content. Originality/value A compass-based navigation method enables screen navigation through a formal command language and enables intuitive movement to a screen location using matrix-style compass directions with zoom-in and zoom-out capabilities.

THE ROLE OF WHITESPACE IN NOTICING IN SCIENTIFIC DIAGRAMS

Scientic diagrams are one of the tools of explanation, alongside text. The paper is a part of research on the role of diagrams in learning, here focusing on what is known as whitespace. Whitespace, which is not always white, is often seen as empty space, that is space without content. However, many diagrams have active whitespace, such the green background in safety diagrams which indicates action to be taken, and is a positive colour. Some have red 'whitespace' indicating the danger of undertaking an action. These all promote 'noticing', that is, drawing features to the observers' attention as part of the diagram purpose. The paper explores two clear examples on safety diagrams (signs) and one where observers were unclear about what was whitespace and what was active content.

From comics to biology diagrams: structure and inference in visual narratives of transformation

It has been proposed that comics are a particular form of a fundamental human ability to produce visual narratives – a visual language. The expression of this visual language has received little attention outside comics. To address this matter, this work compares comics and scientific diagrams, focusing on representations of morphological transformation. Cohn’s Visual Narrative Grammar model, the role of dynamic knowledge structures and semiotics are considered in this analysis. A comic book and a diagram are investigated. Both reveal two kinds of transformation narratives: those that are depicted in the image sequence, and those that are inferred. In contrast to depicted narratives, inferred narratives do not depend on a narrative structure. Instead, they require context-specific instructions to organize subjects into narratives. Additionally, simultaneous events in visual narratives are proposed to generate concurrent narrative structures within a single image sequence.