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Diagrams in biology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 July 2013

Laura Perini
Laura Perini*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Pomona College, 551 N. College Avenue, Claremont, CA 91711, USA
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Abstract

Biologists depend on visual representations, and their use of diagrams has drawn the attention of philosophers, historians, and sociologists interested in understanding how these images are involved in biological reasoning. These studies, however, proceed from identification of diagrams on the basis of their spare visual appearance, and do not draw on a foundational theory of the nature of diagrams as representations. This approach has limited the extent to which we understand how these diagrams are involved in biological reasoning. In this paper, I characterize three different kinds of figures among those previously identified as diagrams. The features that make these figures distinctive as representational types, furthermore, illuminate the ways in which they are involved in biological reasoning.

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Articles
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The Knowledge Engineering Review , Volume 28 , Special Issue 3: Visualization, Visual Representation and Reasoning , September 2013 , pp. 273 - 286
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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