Galileo’s Telescopic Discoveries: Thinking Visually in the History of Science

Thinking Visually

IEEE VIS, the premier international conference on visualization and visual analytics, is bringing 1100 people to Oklahoma City this week either in-person or virtually. OU Professor David Ebert is one of the organizers of the conference. David is Gallogly Chair Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and Computer Science (CS); Associate Vice President of Research and Partnerships; and Director, Data Institute for Societal Challenges (DISC).

An OU Open House on Thursday showcased data science activities and research from DISC and other centers on campus including the History of Science Collections.

I thank David for inviting me to present the capstone, which I’ve entitled: “Galileo’s Telescopic Discoveries: Thinking Visually in the History of Science.” Here’s the program and the capstone description from the conference website.

Title
Galileo’s Telescopic Discoveries: Thinking Visually in the History of Science

Abstract
In the Starry Messenger (1610), Galileo reported his discovery of four satellites of Jupiter and mountains on the Moon. These sensational telescopic discoveries were made possible by Galileo’s training and experience in Renaissance art. Galileo’s scientific discoveries occurred in the context of a specific artistic culture which fostered visual thinking by means of sophisticated mathematical techniques for drawing with linear perspective and handling light and shadow. When Galileo peered through his telescope and discovered mountains on the Moon, he did so because he was seeing with the eyes of an artist. Contemporaries without artistic training in visual thinking were not able to see what Galileo saw; they were able to look but not to see.

Related links:

• Script (PDF)
• “Galileo’s World” Exhibition Catalog.* Look particularly at the gallery for “Galileo and Perspective Drawing.”
• Visual Thinking and the History of the Earth: One, Two. Didactic images of the Earth are part of the story of how the history of the Earth came to be reconstructed.
• Visual Thinking and Charles Darwin: “Darwin at the Library” Exhibition Catalog. The breadth of Darwin’s works is remarkable. What stands out from a survey of his books is a masterful use of a remarkably wide range of visual illustrations.
• Visitors to the open house also got to see the story of Mary Anning, who discovered the fossils that make up the Jurassic age: handout.
• Many handouts at the open house may be downloaded from kerrymagruder.com.*
• Update: kerrymagruder.com is now under reconstruction; see links at the bottom of the PPP post instead.