2015 AAAS Annual Meeting (12-16 February 2015)

February 12 - 16, 2015

A Science Cycle: From Novel Imaging to Novel Physics, and Vice Versa

Which comes first: technological or scientific innovation? This question has engaged historians and philosophers of science and technology for ages. This symposium presents four cases that engage this intriguing question, highlighting ironies in the role of images in scientific work, as well as describing some interesting science. Images are the traditional "holy grail" for popular credibility of scientific knowledge -- "seeing is believing." Ironically, they have become essential tools for scientific discovery having little connection to scientific belief. More than extensions of vision, they now are instruments of scientific imagination. This symposium illustrates both breadth and depth of imaging methods and their capability for making important discoveries across scientific disciplines. Two cases illustrate novel imaging technologies for understanding novel physics and two the converse sense. In the first sense, image scanning is not new, but its adaptation to SQUID probes and high field tunneling probes illustrate extensions enabling investigation of new domains of physical phenomena. In the second sense, sparse imaging and novel optics illustrate novel physics enabling novel imaging technologies. Within these cases lies another story: the circumstances that led each investigator to innovate. For some, it was a reach across disciplines; for others, it was serendipitous circumstance. And as for whether technological or scientific innovation took precedence, only you can decide.