Article ID: CBB001210107

A Physicist at Woods Hole: Introducing the Image Intensifier and Image Processing to Cell Biology (2010)

unapi

In 1963, by invitation, particle physicist George Reynolds (Princeton University) brought an image intensifier to Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory. Together, he and a group of biologists began experimenting with the device as a way to create images of cells in low-light level situations, especially in the study of bioluminescence. In this paper I am interested in how the scientists, a physicist and biologists in collaboration, assessed, interpreted and presented the pictures that they created with the aid of image intensification. In particular, I consider the problem of `noise' in the image. The paper ends with an example of how Reynolds and a biologist at Woods Hole contended with the presence of noise in images used for publication. Here is an example of how data is modified, that is, enhanced, to serve as scientific evidence. By presenting an early and simple case of the altered image I reveal one way scientists addressed the potentiality of presenting inappropriately modified data -- a concern that has garnered much attention in the current age of digital imaging technologies.

...More

Description On George Reynold's experiments with an image intensifier.


Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001210107/

Similar Citations

Chapter Vall, Renée van de; (2009)
A Penny for your Thoughts: Brain-Scans and the Mediation of Subjective Embodiment (/isis/citation/CBB000952928/)

Article Cambrosio, Alberto; Keating, Peter; (2000)
Of Lymphocytes and Pixels: The Techno-Visual Production of Cell Populations (/isis/citation/CBB000770654/)

Article Morange, Michel; (2011)
Recent Opportunities for an Increasing Role for Physical Explanations in Biology (/isis/citation/CBB001023998/)

Book Dijck, José van; (2005)
The Transparent Body: A Cultural Analysis of Medical Imaging (/isis/citation/CBB000641252/)

Book Roberts, Julie; (2012)
The Visualised Foetus: A Cultural and Political Analysis of Ultrasound Imagery (/isis/citation/CBB001421301/)

Chapter Keller, Evelyn Fox; (2010)
Contenders for Life: Approaches from Physics, Biology, and Engineering (/isis/citation/CBB001023237/)

Book Doing, Park; (2009)
Velvet Revolution at the Synchrotron: Biology, Physics, and Change in Science (/isis/citation/CBB000952121/)

Article Franklin, Allan; (2010)
The Machine Speaks Falsely (/isis/citation/CBB001023792/)

Article Brauckmann, Sabine; Thieffry, Denis; (2004)
Introduction (/isis/citation/CBB000610027/)

Article Weniger, Wolfgang J.; Tassy, Olivier; Darras, Sébastien; Geyer, Stefan H.; Thieffry, Denis; (2004)
From Experimental Imaging Techniques to Virtual Embryology (/isis/citation/CBB000610031/)

Article Ghesquier, Danièle; (2002)
La centrifugation et la cellule: la déconstruction du protoplasme entre 1880 et 1910 (/isis/citation/CBB000770937/)

Chapter Adelson, Naomi; (2006)
Visible/Human/Project: Visiblity and Invisibility at the Next Anatomical Frontier (/isis/citation/CBB000772483/)

Chapter Hagner, Michael; (2009)
The Mind at Work: The Visual Representation of Cerebral Processes (/isis/citation/CBB000952927/)

Article Bruhn, Matthias; (2011)
Life Lines: An Art History of Biological Research around 1800 (/isis/citation/CBB001221525/)

Chapter Müller-Rockstroh, Babette; (2009)
Imagin(in)g Pregnancy in Northwest Tanzania: Networks, Experiences, and Translations (/isis/citation/CBB000952931/)

Chapter Radstake, Maud; (2009)
Looking for a Sponge: How a Body Learns to be Affected by Ultrasound (/isis/citation/CBB000952930/)

Authors & Contributors
Thieffry, Denis
Weniger, Wolfgang J.
Vall, Renée van de
Tillack, Allison
Tassy, Olivier
Stahnisch, Frank W.
Concepts
Imaging technology
Visual representation; visual communication
Biology
Medical technology
Medicine
Physics
Time Periods
20th century, late
21st century
20th century, early
19th century
20th century
Places
United States
South Korea
Tanzania (Tanganyika, Zanzibar)
Germany
Europe
Institutions
Cornell University
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment