O PROBLEMA DA IMAGEM DO ÁTOMO

Informação recebida da Fundação Gulbenkian:

No próximo dia 15 de Dezembro, pelas 18h00, irá ter lugar no Auditório 2 da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian a conferência The Problem of a Picture of an Atom, proferida por Christopher Toumey (University of South Carolina, NanoCenter).

Esta conferência insere-se no ciclo de conferências Image in Science and Art, organizado pela Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian e pelo Centro de Filosofia das Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, no âmbito do projecto FCT «A Imagem na Ciência e na Arte», ciclo este que precede o Colóquio Internacional Image in Science and Art, a realizar nos dias 17, 18 e 19 de Fevereiro de 2011 na Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.
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Abstract

Nanotechnology earns much of its credibility by producing detailed and attractive pictures of atoms, molecules, and other nanoscale objects. But these pictures are not like photographs. With a photograph, one can compare a photo of an object with the object itself to see whether the photo is a faithful image of the object. But nano images are visual interpretations of electronic data, and they typically include a series of artificial enhancements. This means that a picture of an atom or a molecule is not a faithful image of the atom or the molecule. After introducing that problem, this presentation will trace the history of electronic microscopy leading up to the current status of nano images. Then, to explore how we might get the most benefit from visual knowledge contained in nano images, I review certain principles from early Cubist theory. We can apply those principles to nano images: instead of abandoning problematic nano images, we can better understand pictures of nanoscale objects by viewing them the way the early Cubists viewed the objects they painted.

CHRIS TOUMEY

Chris Toumey is a cultural anthropologist in the University of South Carolina NanoCenter. His interest in societal issues in nanotechnology has resulted in more than 35 published articles on this topic. His two primary areas of research have been: [A] democratizing nanotechnology, that is, creating and identifying processes in which nonexperts can have active and constructive roles in nanotechnology policy; and [B] contested stories of the origin and development of nanotech, e.g., the Feynman story of the origin of nanotechnology. Other interests include: religious reactions to nanotechnology; interpreting SPM images of the nanoscale; and implications for privacy. His commentaries on nanotech appear four times a year in Nature Nanotechnology. Prior to his interest in nanotechnology, Chris Toumey researched a series of public scientific controversies, including the creation-evolution controversy, cold fusion, and fluoridation. His article on mad scientist stories is well known in studies of science and literature. His ethnography of the creationist movement, God’s Own Scientists, was published by Rutgers University Press, as was Conjuring Science, his account of the deployment and manipulation of the popular symbols of science in public scientific controversies.

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