Scientific Pictures: Gilding the Lilly?

ET

There is an interesting paper in a recent issue of “Nature” concerning scientific illustrations. The article by Julio Ottino asserts that some contemporary scientific illustrations are overdrawn with too much detail. Ottino provides several examples showing how sophisticated illustration packages (such as Photoshop Illustrator) were used to create more detail than is actually there. A nice reminder that simple, clear illustrations are often enough. The article can be downloaded here.