Models: The Third Dimension of Science (Writing Science) [Hardcover]

Soraya de Chadarevian (Author), Nick Hopwood (Author), Malcolm Baker (Author), Marcel Boumans (Author), Christopher Evans (Author), Eric Francoeur (Author), James Griesemer (Author), Ludmilla Jordanova (Author), Renato G. Mazzolini (Author), Herbert Mehrtens (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0804739714 | ISBN-13: 978-0804739719 | Publication Date: July 15, 2004 | Edition: 1

Now that ‘3-D models’ are so often digital displays on flat screens, it is timely to look back at the solid models that were once the third dimension of science. This book is about wooden ships and plastic molecules, wax bodies and a perspex economy, monuments in cork and mathematics in plaster, casts of diseases, habitat dioramas, and extinct monsters rebuilt in bricks and mortar. These remarkable artefacts were fixtures of laboratories and lecture halls, studios and workshops, dockyards and museums. Considering such objects together for the first time, this interdisciplinary volume demonstrates how, in research as well as in teaching, 3-D models played major roles in making knowledge. Accessible and original chapters by leading scholars highlight the special properties of models, explore the interplay between representation in two dimensions and three, and investigate the shift to modelling with computers. The book is fascinating reading for anyone interested in the sciences, medicine, and technology, and in collections and museums.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...this collection of essays [provides] rich food for thought, and [is] a valuable source of material for comparison that goes well beyond the study of three dimensional models and includes, for example, the history of science as material culture, relationships between science and the public, and the relationship between different media in scientific practice."—Social Studies of Science

"This finely focused theme and the historical specificity of each author's contribution sustain and propel the reader through this rich, provocative collection,"—Science Magazine

" . . . [T]he wide-ranging chapters suggest intriguing aproaches to the investigation of objects which readers may wish to emulate."—Rittenhouse: Journal of the Scientific Instrument Enterprise

"...[I]f you are interested in the history of science then Models-The Third Dimension of Science edited by Soraya de Chadarevian and Nick Hopwood is a highly stimulating and thought-provoking book to read."—Acta Zoologica

"This book is wonderful...a real treasure trove."—The American Biology Teacher

From the Inside Flap

Now that ‘3-D models’ are so often digital displays on flat screens, it is timely to look back at the solid models that were once the third dimension of science. This book is about wooden ships and plastic molecules, wax bodies and a perspex economy, monuments in cork and mathematics in plaster, casts of diseases, habitat dioramas, and extinct monsters rebuilt in bricks and mortar. These remarkable artefacts were fixtures of laboratories and lecture halls, studios and workshops, dockyards and museums. Considering such objects together for the first time, this interdisciplinary volume demonstrates how, in research as well as in teaching, 3-D models played major roles in making knowledge. Accessible and original chapters by leading scholars highlight the special properties of models, explore the interplay between representation in two dimensions and three, and investigate the shift to modelling with computers. The book is fascinating reading for anyone interested in the sciences, medicine, and technology, and in collections and museums.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 488 pages
• Publisher: Stanford University Press; 1 edition (July 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804739714
• ISBN-13: 978-0804739719
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,207,098 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, November 23, 2006

By 

jannnnn (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Models: The Third Dimension of Science (Writing Science) (Paperback)

This book is a fascinating interdisciplinary effort: a collection of essays at the intersection of history, the visual arts, and the sciences. Students of art history, the history of science, and the history of education, in particular, will gain rich insight from reading it.