Call for Applications
Visualising Nature
Making Images and the Production of Biological Knowledge from Early Modern
Natural History to Contemporary Life Sciences
Ischia Summer School on the History of the Life Sciences
Ischia, 3 July – 10 July, 2007
Supported by:
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (Naples)
Institut d’Histoire de la Médecine et de la Santé (Geneva)
Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte (Berlin)
History of Science Department, Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass)
Directors of the School: Giorgio Bernardi and Christiane Groeben (Stazione
Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Naples) Janet Browne (Harvard), Bernardino Fantini
(Geneva), Hans-Jörg Rheinberger (Berlin)
1. Brief introduction to the theme
The 2007 summer school will explore the relationship between making and
knowing in the biological sciences as mediated by visual culture from the
Renaissance to the modern day. We intend to focus on three interrelated
themes. One theme concerns craft practices and the development of
visualising technologies. The development of such techniques (engraving,
photography, film and digital technologies) invariably takes place outside
biology and therefore gives rise to problems of application, conversion and
definition, all of which impact on the practice of biology. The second
theme concerns the historical relation between theory and image in the
formation of scientific arguments. The iconic images of an evolutionary
tree, biochemical cycles, or the double helix, for example, are wedded to
our understanding of current research. Visualisation, in this sense, is the
statement of theory. Third, there are the cognitive claims about reality
that are made through images, for example through graphs, diagrams, moving
images, time lapse or changes of scale, microscopy, computer simulation,
museum display, the rhetoric of book illustration, TV films and medical
imaging. Perceptual evidence has traditionally been given privileged
epistemic status in science. Yet increasing use of non-optical detection
methods and increasing reliance on statistical processing to generate data
renders the status of the knowledge problematic.
2. Programme
The aim is to bring together graduate and recent postdoctoral students with
experts from a number of different fields to engage with the following key
topics:
1.Techologies of making images and presenting biological materials,
including the fine arts, drawing and painting, craft practices, the impact
of mechanical reproduction, anatomies and preparations (eg slides, models,
specimens)
2.Changes of scale, microscopy, photography, X-Rays, the consolidation of
agreement about the meaning of images, eyewitness reports, realism and
observation, training
3.Film and digital technologies; new instruments and new conceptual problems
4.Images as theory and tool, diagrams, maps, scans, tables, graphs and
iconic representations such as evolutionary trees, biological cycles,
isotopic tracing
5.Computer simulations, the enhancement of reality, the place of perceptual
evidence in modern biology, genetic and epidemiological maps, the depiction
of cells
6.Visual display, museums, book illustration, spectacle, mass-media outlets
It is hoped to arrange time for participating students also to present a
brief account of their own work. In addition there will be opportunities
for a film screening, provisionally a selection of Jean Painlevé’s classic
natural history films (1940s). A visit to the laboratory of the Stazione
Zoologica ‘Anton Dohrn’ in Naples is planned during which students can
explore modern laboratory techniques and the famous aquarium.
3. Practical Information
The emphasis of the course will be on encouraging discussion and exchanging
ideas across disciplinary boundaries. English is the official working
language. A background reading pack for the workshops will be sent to each
participant in advance. The first and last days (Tuesday 3 July and Tuesday
10 July) are travelling days with no lectures scheduled. The island of
Ischia can only be approached by ferry from Naples and participants
arriving by air are encouraged to check the ferry timetables carefully. We
will provide all necessary information. The weather at this time of year is
extremely warm and sunny, especially around midday, and for comfort we
schedule our sessions during the morning and late afternoon.
Applications should be sent by 30 January 2007 to:
Professor Bernardino Fantini
Institut d.Histoire de la Médecine et de la Santé, CMU,
Case postale, 1211 Genève 4, Switzerland
Phone: +41.22.379.57.90; Fax: +41.22.379.57.92
Email: [log in to unmask]
Please include a brief cv, a statement specifying your academic experience
and interest in the course topic, and a letter of recommendation. The group
will be limited to about 25 participants. There is a small charge for
students of 400 Euros each. This fee covers full board and lodging. The
organisers gratefully acknowledge awards from the VolkswagenStiftung and
the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (Naples).
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