Diagrams in Science, Science in Diagrams

Sietske Fransen and Christoph Sander

Diagrammatic forms of visualization are ubiquitous in scientific publications, as well as in popular mediations of scientific contents. Every computer interface relies on diagrammatic forms, combining textual and graphical elements. Diagrams abstract and encode information. They are indispensable in many scientific contexts and, together with charts and graphs, also permeate the daily media, thereby reaching a wide audience of experts and non-experts.
As natural and familiar as these abstract forms of representing information might seem to us, they are products of many historical developments. Their historical roots extend back deep in time. However, the historical integration of diagrams into the context of scientific inquiry is relatively recent. Even if these developments with regard to Western cultures have their origin in antiquity and were significantly developed further in medieval science, the early modern period can be considered the first phase in which use of diagrams flourished in practically all sciences.
As an output from our workshop “Diagrams in Science, Science in Diagrams,” held in June 2021, we are currently preparing a publication that will trace the historical development of diagrammatic visualizations in science in the early modern period. This project takes an interdisciplinary approach spanning roughly 500 years (1300–1800) and stretching across all early modern sciences, from architecture through medicine to astrology.