Tutorial 2a: Cognitive History of Science: The Roles of Diagrammatic Representations in Discovery and Modeling Discovery

Abstract

This session looks at some uses of diagrams in scientific discovery, particularly their role as intermediate representations which mediate between phenomena, descriptions which can be communicated and descriptions which are general. A range of examples will illustrate a variety of uses, including: the abstractive, generative role; diagrams as encoded knowledge; reasoning with diagrammatic representations in discovery; and communication (exposition and argumentation). The tutorial will encourage consideration of two issues: (a) whether, from a cognitive standpoint, diagrams are essential to reasoning about natural phenomena and processes, and (b) the relationship of diagrammatic reasoning to other types of visualisation and visual thinking in the sciences, including cognitive and computational modeling of discovery.