Dear Clara
Thank you for your refreshing and insightful clarity. I would like to
contribute to your thoughts with the work of Lakoff and Johnson,
'Philosophy in the Flesh', in which they refer to second generation
cognitive science to establish the notion of the 'embodied mind' and
dispel the Cartesian concept of separation between mind and body - i.e.
our brains and bodies evolved simultaneously, and the development of
language was stimulated by the increased articulation of our hands. A
similar correlation may be understood by those practising Tai Chi
Chuan, Chi Gung and different forms of Yoga.
Best regards
David
On 9 Aug 2006, at 17:00, Clara L. Richardson wrote:
>> Dear all
>>
>> I' currently working on a thesis about the uses of scientific
>> illustration and trying to find out why doe's it help us to learn. As
>> a marine biologist and a scientific illustrator i have no doubt that
>> drawing help us to observe better and some how understand the
>> phenomenon's that surround us. I would like to know if any of you,
>> who work on the same subject, can help me to find out bibliography
>> about this subject.
>>
>> Thank u
>> Ana Bigio
> Dear Ana-
>
> I am a scientific illustrator and I have been considering a piece of
> this for a talk to some colleagues here in the States. Outside of my
> area of interest, there is the whole arena of observation and
> sustained focused thought.
>
> What I looked into was the matter of how employing our hands teaches
> us. Some illustrators, including myself can sometimes feel that we are
> touching what we are drawing. For myself I usually feel that I haven't
> seen something until I have drawn it and that I see with my hands. And
> that this is not just the close observation thing, but that the use of
> my hands is a big part of it. For both the initial observation part of
> the drawing, and also in the secondary rendering.
>
> I have a true sense that this is because when our hands are involved
> different parts of our brain are involved. Modern science is built so
> much on word-thinking that other ways of processing information are
> overlooked.
>
> Aside from my own experience and those of colleagues, my main
> bibliographical source was:
>
> The Hand: How its use shapes the brain, language and human culture.
> F.R. Wilson, 1998 Pantheon Books, NY
>
> I hope this helps...
> -Clara
>
> --
>
>
> ----------------------------------
> Clara L. Richardson
> Scientific Illustrator
> Zoology Dept.
>
> The Field Museum
> 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive
> Chicago, IL 60605
> http://www.fmnh.org/
>
> in my office Tues. and Wed., often working in Herps on Thurs.
>
> available by email most days
> [log in to unmask]
>
David Haley BA(Hons) MA FRSA
Research Fellow
MA Art As Environment Programme Leader
SEA: Social & Environmental Arts Research Centre (MIRIAD)
Manchester Metropolitan University
Postgraduate Research Centre
Cavendish North Building, Cavendish Street,
Manchester M15 6 BY
Tel: +44 (0)161 247 1093
Fax: +44 (0)161 2476870
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