Are Pictures Really Necessary?

Biologists are remarkably visual people. I have before me a flyer from a major publisher, promoting the new edition of an (apparently) highly successful college text in cell biology, co-authored by (among others) the Nobel laureate, David Baltimore (Darnell, Lodish and Baltimore 1990). The 1,105 pages include no less than 1,050 illustrations; the people asked to publicize the book harp on the virtues of the pictures (‘I appreciate the use of data and actual micrographs. The artwork, and especially the use of color, is outstanding.’ ¹ ); and instructors adopting the book as a text get a free set of overhead transparencies, with the opportunity to buy more.