From painted diagrams of the constellations to a photograph of a black hole taken from a “virtual telescope” the size of planet Earth; from medieval astrological “zodiac men” to “Nuclear” MRIs: science has always produced images. Such imagery may educate or advertise; it may communicate theories or arouse wonder. It may be intended as – or may later become – great art.
This seminar will ask how science has produced art, and how art has shaped science. It will be richly illustrated with examples of manuscripts, printed books and digital images. We will examine some works by self-proclaimed artists, from the Limbourg Brothers to JMW Turner, which have been inspired by science and technology. But the bulk of our time will be spent working with the art produced directly by scientists themselves. Ornate brass astrolabes; engravings of the earliest objects to be viewed through a microscope; ultrasound photographs, which expectant parents can now print onto a cupcake... each speaks eloquently of a particular scientific culture. Even at its most abstract and diagrammatic, visual and communicative choices shape each work’s form and reveal its multifarious functions.
The story of humanity’s evolving understanding of nature may be told through scientific images, but we must first learn to read them. Across three periods – the Middle Ages, the age of print, and the modern era, we will discuss why and how they were made, and what they can tell us.
Learning outcomes
- Know about a range of ways in which humans have viewed and depicted the cosmos through images and models;
- Know about a range of ways in which people have viewed and depicted the human body, and how this has corresponded to changing medical practices;
- Be able to take a critical attitude to scientific images, and to understand the power of scientific imagery.
