Kemp, Martin
(2012)
“The testimony of my own eyes”: The Strange Case of the Mammal with a Beak.
Spontaneous Generations: A Journal for the History and Philosophy of Science, 6 (1).
pp. 43-49.
ISSN 1913 0465
Abstract
There has always been a significant element of trust when we look at an image of something we have not seen, above all when it looks naturalistic and convincing. Illustrators often employ naturalistic tricks in the service of the “rhetoric of reality.” The case study is the Australian Duck-Billed Platypus, which stretched credibility when it was first discovered, resembling an artificially confected monster. The first scientific account, by George Shaw in T he Naturalist’s Miscellany in 1799, is a masterpiece of wonder and scepticism in which he finally convinces himself and us of the reality of the strange beast. However, how many of us have seen a real one?
| Item Type: |
Published Article or Volume
|
| Creators: |
| Creators | Email | ORCID  |
|---|
| Kemp, Martin | | |
|
| Depositing User: |
Miss Charlotte Marcotte-Toale
|
| Date Deposited: |
29 Jan 2019 18:29 |
| Last Modified: |
29 Jan 2019 18:29 |
| Item ID: |
15683 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
Spontaneous Generations: A Journal for the History and Philosophy of Science |
| Publisher: |
The University of Toronto |
| Official URL: |
https://spontaneousgenerations.library.utoronto.ca... |
| DOI or Unique Handle: |
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4245/sponge.v6i1.17157 |
| Date: |
3 October 2012 |
| Page Range: |
pp. 43-49 |
| Volume: |
6 |
| Number: |
1 |
| ISSN: |
1913 0465 |
| URI: |
https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/15683 |
Monthly Views for the past 3 years
Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years
Plum Analytics
Altmetric.com
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
![[feed]](http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/style/images/feed-icon-32x32.png){kind=icon}