Contemplating the Finger
Visuality and the Semiotics of Chemistry
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23138684 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Stephen J Weininger (0000-0002-6644-0223, corresponding author), HYLE Publications |
| Year | 1998 |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 3-27 |
| Publication date | 1998-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | HYLE (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1433-5158 |
| Publisher | Philosophy Documentation Center (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.5840/hyle1998411 |
| OpenAlex | W2182683275 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 8 |
A historical overview of the development of chemical signs reveals the central role of the Table as a representational device, as well as its limitations. Furthermore, the decreasing importance of linguistic signs such as names, compared to iconic signs such as structural formulas, accords with and reinforces the intensely visual character of chemistry. Chemistry’s symbolic language is shown to mimic many features of natural languages, including the ability to construct fictional worlds. I argue that these ‘scientific fictions’ are as cognitively valuable in chemistry as they are in ordinary life, and that chemists creatively mix ‘true’ and ‘fictional’ representations of molecules and substances.
Archaeology · Character (mathematics) · Cognitive science · Construct (python library) · Epistemology · Linguistics · Natural (archaeology) · Semiotics · Sociology · Chemistry · Computer Science · Historical and Literary Studies · History · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Mathematics · Philosophy · Psychology · Sociology and Cultural Identity Studies
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Changes in Chemical Concepts and Language in the Seventeenth Century
Table of the Different Relations Observed in Chemistry between Different Substances 27 August 1718
The Layers of Chemical Language, I
Origin of the Concept Chemical Compound
"The Communal Context for Etienne-François Geoffroy's "Table des rapports
The Chemical Workshop Tradition and the Experimental Practice
Eighteenth-Century Chemistry as an Investigative Enterprise
| Citations per year | 0.2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2001 - 2021 (21) |
| Highly cited | No |