Session: Reasoning with Diagrams in Biology (Laura Perini, Daniel C. Burnston, Benjamin Sheredos)

Basic research in the life sciences often yields visual data, but that is only a first step in the production of an image that can serve as evidence in scientific reasoning. Historical, social science, and philosophical studies have shown that often data images must be subjected to intensive practices of interpretation before they can be used as representations. That interpretive practice is often supplemented by altering the original image, by combining multiple parts of data images and by superimposing diagrammatic forms on visual data. In this talk I will clarify how diagrams contribute to the meaning and evidential relevance of data images.