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The Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute

Yale New Haven Teacher Institute

Making Visible the Invisible

Paola Bertucci, Professor of History and History of Medicine at Yale University. Curator-in-charge of History of Science and Technology Division at the Peabody Museum.

This seminar explores visualization techniques introduced between the 1500s and the 1700s to make sense of natural phenomena that could not be grasped without visual or material aids. We will focus on specific examples that had extraordinary consequences both in science, philosophy, the arts, and everyday life: microscopy, astronomy, natural history, anatomy, cartography, and experimental physics.

We will examine early anatomical and botanical illustrations and the relationships between naturalists and craftspeople like engravers and printers. We will also discuss the role that artistic training played in making sense of images offered by scientific instruments like the telescope and the microscope, exploring debates over the nature of the cosmos and the nature of life. We will also enter the exciting area at the intersection of science and magic by investigating optical illusions and early debates on the sense of sight.

“Participants will come to understand visualization techniques as part and parcel of scientific practice, and we will take advantage of Yale's extraordinary collections, with hands-on sessions in libraries and museums.” - Paola Bertucci

Potential Curriculum Unit Topics

Using the analytical tools and visualization experiences learned in this interdisciplinary seminar, K-12 teachers can create curriculum units on a wide array of topics.

  • Science teachers can create units that incorporate the history of scientific inquiry on a variety of subjects within the various sciences
  • Art teachers can create units on visualization of a wide variety of natural phenomena
  • History teachers can create units on the history of science and the social and cultural contexts around depictions of scientific studies and breakthroughs

This seminar is for K-12 teachers in:

  • Sciences
  • Arts
  • History
  • ELA
  • Languages