Summary

A fresh approach to visualization practices in the sciences that considers novel forms of imaging technology and draws on recent theoretical perspectives on representation.

Representation in Scientific Practice , published by the MIT Press in 1990, helped coalesce a long-standing interest in scientific visualization among historians, philosophers, and sociologists of science and remains a touchstone for current investigations in science and technology studies. This volume revisits the topic, taking into account both the changing conceptual landscape of STS and the emergence of new imaging technologies in scientific practice. It offers cutting-edge research on a broad array of fields that study information as well as short reflections on the evolution of the field by leading scholars, including some of the contributors to the 1990 volume.

The essays consider the ways in which viewing experiences are crafted in the digital era; the embodied nature of work with digital technologies; the constitutive role of materials and technologies-from chalkboards to brain scans-in the production of new scientific knowledge; the metaphors and images mobilized by communities of practice; and the status and significance of scientific imagery in professional and popular culture.

Contributors
Morana Alač, Michael Barany, Anne Beaulieu, Annamaria Carusi, Catelijne Coopmans, Lorraine Daston, Sarah de Rijcke, Joseph Dumit, Emma Frow, Yann Giraud, Aud Sissel Hoel, Martin Kemp, Bruno Latour, John Law, Michael Lynch, Donald MacKenzie, Cyrus Mody, Natasha Myers, Rachel Prentice, Arie Rip, Martin Ruivenkamp, Lucy Suchman, Janet Vertesi, Steve Woolgar

Choice Review

This book, a follow-up to Representation in Scientific Practice, edited by Michael Lynch and Steve Woolgar (1990), focuses on examining scientific visualization from the perspective of science and technology studies (STS), with an emphasis on the many new technologies in use today. The contributed chapters critically explore how scientists and engineers use contemporary visualization technologies, including planetary remote sensing, brain imagery, and nanotechnology, to create representations and derive meaning from data. The 22 chapters are generally well written and accessible to non-STS specialists with an interest in this area. One of the unique features of the volume is the inclusion of brief commentaries by experienced STS scholars on key aspects of representational practice, such as visualization, trust, and ontology. These short pieces are a strong complement to the case studies presented. This volume, part of the "Inside Technology" series, would be most appropriate for advanced students and STS practitioners. In addition, working scientists and engineers would gain insight into what lies behind the process of making and using visualizations. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers/faculty, and professionals/practitioners. R. A. Kolvoord James Madison University