ABSTRACT
As with each of the topics covered in Part 2 of this book, scientific imaging is a vast and complex subject. Yet, it is perhaps doubly difficult to explore, since it often relates to expert knowledge and highly specialized and technical imaging equipment and processes. Nevertheless, this chapter aims to draw out some key themes and problematics. It begins by considering both images in science and the dilemma of ‘reading’ science from a humanities perspective. Attention is then given to ‘ways of seeing’, starting with the naked eye and progressing to consider how vision functions in the brain. A common theme in scientific imaging is the idea of ‘seeing the unseen’. Commentaries from scientists provide insights into the role images play in science, including an entry on how MRI scans are constructed and the significance of images to quantum physics. The chapter concludes with thoughts on how we can categorize science images according to the ‘object’ of enquiry, with a spectrum that runs from the material, physical entity to the invisible though nonetheless real entity, and finally the purely conceptual, theoretical idea.
