This week we welcome Dr Martin Bush to the podcast to discuss the role of imagery and visualisation in the circulation of science and knowledge. 

Martin is a member of the HPS department at the University of Melbourne who focuses primarily on the role of imagery in the popularisation and teaching of astronomy. In this episode, he takes us through the different arenas in which science is produced, discussed and circulated, and how these spheres can influence, or gate keep knowledge from each other. Martin then looks at the role that imagery and visualisation plays in the popularisation and understanding of scientific knowledge, and at the use of imagery as documentary evidence. 

Follow the links below to learn more about Martin and the topic he discussed with us:

Burke, Peter. Eyewitnessing: The uses of images as historical evidence. Cornell University Press, 2001.

Bush, Martin. (2018). 1891: The Collins–Hosking debate, Christchurch. Public Understanding of Science, 27(7), 897–904. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662518771400

Bush, Martin. "Again with feeling: modes of visual representation of popular astronomy in the mid-nineteenth century." Notes and Records 76, no. 3 (2022): 485-506. 

Kärnfelt, Johan. "The Popularization of Astronomy in Early Twentieth-Century Sweden: Aims and Motives." In Popularizing Science and Technology in the European Periphery, 1800–2000, pp. 175-194. Routledge, 2016.

Lewis, Dyani. "Why the WHO took two years to say COVID is airborne." Nature 604, no. 7904 (2022): 26-31.

Secord, Anne. (1994). Science in the Pub: Artisan Botanists in Early Nineteenth-Century Lancashire. History of Science, 32(3), 269–315. https://doi.org/10.1177/007327539403200302.
Secord, James A. “Knowledge in Transit.” Isis 95, no. 4 (2004): 654–72. https://doi.org/10.1086/430657.

A full transcript of the episode can be found here: https://www.hpsunimelb.org/post/episode-10-transcript

Thanks for listening to The HPS Podcast with current producers, Samara Greenwood and Carmelina Contarino. You can find more about us on our blog, website, bluesky, twitter, instagram and facebook feeds. Music by ComaStudio.

This podcast would not be possible without the support of School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne.

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