User:Janis Klimanovs/Annotations

L. Datson & P. Galison. Objectivity. 9-39.

In the first chapter authors describe physicists Arthur's Worthington's work, he spent a lot of time analyzing the impact of falling liquid drops which hit a flat surface. He made drawings, after photographs and systematically classified these visualizations. Photographs comparing to drawings showed more detail and the irregularity, asymmetrical individuality of drops, while perceiving with eye and drawing them, they seemed regular. Discovering the detailed complexity and the differences between photographed drops and drawings, he realized that photographed may be considered as real, being objective.

"Objectivity is blind sight, seeing without inference, interpretation, or intelligence." About blind sight, the "objective view" scientists started to become curious after Worthington's long experiments and emerged a new way how to study nature and work as scientists. Image making was one of the most common new practice ways for to achieve scientifically objective material. Pictures were displayed in the scientific atlases that raised epistemic virtues, becoming more truthful than before when there were drawings. For people these photo atlases were working as a visual dictionary of science. The authors discuss the differences between different kind of atlases and why and how they were made. There were set some standards of a science in word, image and deed about how to deal with an atlas, how to read it, and how it should be looked, sort of an interface was there.

Objectivity hasn't got a really long history, before there was truth to nature, after in the mid nineteen century was the advent of objectivity and also with it came trained judgement. Objective referred to things as they are presented to consciousness, whereas subjective means almost precisely the opposite, referring to things in themselves. As Kant interpreted "the line between the objective and the subjective generally runs between universal and particular, not between world and mind". There is no objectivity without subjectivity, and the other way around, they are always paired.

To be continued..

References

L. Datson & P. Galison. Objectivity. 9-39.