More Than Pretty Pictures
Douglas Scott
Abstract
Images and figures — visual representations of scientific data and concepts — are critical components of science and engineering research. They communicate in ways that words cannot. They can clarify or strengthen an argument and spur interest into the research process.
But it is important to remember that a visual representation of a scientific concept or data is a re-presentation and not the thing itself –– some interpretation or translation is always involved. Just as writing a journal article, one must carefully plan what to "say," and in what order to "say it." The process of making a visual representation requires you to clarify your thinking and improve your ability to communicate with others.
In this talk, I will show my own approach to creating depictions in science and engineering—the successes and failures. Included will be a discussion about how far can we go when "enhancing" science images.
Bio
Science photographer Felice Frankel is a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the department of Chemical Engineering with additional support from Mechanical Engineering. She joined MIT in 1994. Frankel is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship among others.
Working in collaboration with scientists and engineers, Felice Frankel's images have appeared in outlets such as National Geographic, Nature, Science, Angewandte Chemie, Advanced Materials, Materials Today, PNAS, Newsweek, Scientific American, Discover, Popular Science and New Scientist, among others. She is working on her 8th book, a series of handbooks: "THE VISUAL ELEMENTS, communicating science and engineering."
Website: www.felicefrankel.com