Depictions of DNA span a variety of aesthetic choices for presenting the details of DNA. One important consideration is the didactic intent of the illustrator: What do they want the audience to know? Another issue to consider is change over time: Knowledge about DNA has become increasingly sophisticated over six decades, and this contributes to the variety of visual depictions. One way to make sense of these aesthetic decisions is to trace them historically through four phases.

Sophisticated technologies of scientific visualization often require a departure from the standards of mimetic representation. In this paper the authors introduce a set of nine papers derived from the conference on scientific visualization in Norrköping, Sweden in September 2012, which explore problems of scale, color and technology in scientific visualization. These three kinds of problems are common to multiple visualization methods. As a result, this collection constitutes a preliminary exploration of commonalities in various methods of visualization, e.g., from nanoscale images to outerspace pictures of galaxies.

ABSTRACT Images of atoms, molecules and other nanoscale objects constitute one of the principal ways of communicating scientific knowledge about nanotechnology, both within and beyond the scientific community. This paper reports on four kinds of insights from studies of nano images: (1) a critical epistemology of these images; (2) aesthetic interpretations intended to counterbalance problems identified in the epistemology; (3) comparisons with issues of visualization from other scientific areas; and (4) a consideration of how persons in the public interpret artistic pictures of nanobots. These insights demonstrate how the humanities and social sciences contribute to the understanding of nanotechnology.

ABSTRACT New forms of science sometimes raise issues about the relation between an object and an image of the object. What is a faithful reproduction? How do technical processes affect the image? Nanoscale images evoke these issues. To enhance our visual knowledge of nanoscale objects, the author revisits early cubist theory. This leads to suggestions in a neo-cubist spirit for making and seeing nanoscale images.