Scientific diagrams and the generation of plausible hypotheses: An essay in the history of ideas

This paper is the first part of a contribution to the study of the history, structure and functions of scientific diagrams. The author considers the role of scientific diagrams in the structure of scientific communication, their perception and interpretation by the reader.The author surveys the main conceptual issues, and proposes that these specialized graphic forms have played an important part in the origin of scientific hypotheses. The supporting evidence will be presented as case studies in a future publication in this journal.

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