Chapter 9

In chapter 9, Scientific Looking, Looking at science emphasises on the way images affect a wide range of audiences and the way people perceive certain messages. The chapter grasps the development of scientific images and looking practices as it helps the ideas of cultural context. Also the chapter, talks about how culturally informed interpretation such as images influence our pop culture, art and the news. Michel Foucault's states, "we can analyze how the discourses of science, like all discourse, change over time, allowing for new subjects position to emerge and new ways of speaking about science to come into being" (pg 347). I feel like this term means that science does change over time, there are new inventions being created and new technologies need to invented.

The term Scientific looking does not happen in isolation from other cultural forms. The reading states that its vitally important that we as a society we see scientific images as importance to the productions and meaning of images in popular culture. Scientific images have a strong meaning. Ever since the creation of photography in the 19th century, media images and imaging have become a crucial aspect of history and the development of photography, film and digital media (pg 348). The come the rise of digital imaging, has created a entirely new aspect of imaging. Visualization has also risen to a new level in aspects such as digital display.
Leonardo was one of the most influential artist of his time. Throughout history he was an artist who used scientific methods in his works and become one of the greatest artist who used both science and art within his work.


The desire to look into and at part of practicing surgery become popular in the late 19th century. The example used in the reading , was the "Gross Clinic", by Thomas Eakins. Last year in my Art History class, this piece was in a part of the sections we learned about, in which we studied based on Realism , which become popular in the 19th century. The realism aspect of many paintings during this time brought about a new way of looking at pieces and being able to relate to them. As photography developed in the 19th century, so did the ability to see into the body through advanced technology. The X-ray provided a relationship between science and images. The interrelationships between art, science and popular consumption was extremely important during this time also. The desire to see art and science in one become something that was out of the ordinary. Scientific images have played a vital role as evidence in science and also with medicine. Photography, seems to be an important theme evolving through out this reading. Photography immediately was used a strong medium for expressing science and medicine ideas. These types of photos, were used to provide visual records of phenomena and experiments (pg 356). These types of images were used to document multiple disease and to record data.
The camera also came into context, having the ability to be used a aid for vision. It become an aspect to see the" unseen", to record the invisible aspects of the world. In the scientific world, Doctors, used photographs as a tool to examine physical representation, measurements (pg 350). The role of performance in medical study during this time showed evidence within photographs and drawings, such as French neurologist, Jean- Martin Charcot, who used this type of process. While looking at photographic studies, it was based on observation and measurement. Its states, that it will reflect the "truth" in these type of photographs, because its reflected by observation.
Science creates the ability promote images to be able to see the truth beyond the human eye and giving insight into the questions we all wonder about the body. Images help tell the meaning behind the body such as it can tell one about gender, ideology and disease through photographs. Ultrasound ,created another form of medical investigation. It provides a visual a window into the body which we can see the unknown. Being able to see the bodies interior started tension between the idea that truth is self -evident in the surface appearance of things (pg 369). In the past decades of the 20th century, the medicine world has evolved into great hopes and new technologies.
Science helped bring upon the rise of new technologies such as photographs to help individuals see what can truly be seen. Scientific images have cultural meaning and can influence people perceptions. Through the reading I have learned that the rise of the visual culture of science helps people understand the relationships between science and culture.


I really enjoyed this chapter. It was by far the most interesting and I really learned a lot. I liked how the chapter revolved around photography and the beginning origins of it and how it related the science field. I am an Art Minor and i am currently in a Basic Photography class, and I absolutely love it.