ABSTRACT
Drawing has assisted scientists in seeing subjects whether it be the distant, for instance, in astronomy and Galileo's moon drawings, or the minute, as in Robert Hooke's wonderful Micrographia. Since the Renaissance, drawing has been allied with the production of knowledge not only to record and communicate observations, but as an integral part of making observations themselves, that is, as a method to direct and focus attention on the visible world and as a tool to craft an image. Surveying both historical and contemporary drawing, one can see a range of ways that drawing approaches the barely visible, and along the way identify strategies that enabled artists and others to direct their drawing to extend their visual capacity. The idea that drawing can enable the draughtsperson, be they artist or investigator, to grasp and reflect on, and therefore understand a subject is described by Leonardo Da Vinci in his notebooks.
