Art and science: The importance of scientific illustration in veterinary medicine

Abstract

The importance of illustration in veterinary is usually overshadowed by its use in human medicine and forget. Nonetheless, it is important to recognize the importance of illustration in the development of veterinarian, as this is also a profession based on observation. Through history there are several examples of how illustration help to increase and share the knowledge in veterinary sciences. There is no doubt that illustration is an important tool in learning. That makes scientific illustration an important and irreplaceable tool, since they have the ability of takes scientific concepts, from the simplest to the complex, and bring it to life in an attractive and simplified way.

Scientific Illustration: A Brief Review and the Emergence of 3d Illustration

“…In fact, the scientific illustrations have changed over the years: the highly realistic mode of representation was transformed into an interpretative and selective way of representation (HODGES, 1989;MOSER, 2014). Instead of representing the exact appearance of the specimen observed, illustrators began to highlight special features that are important to show (that are scientifically meaningful), illustrating an accurate ideal in place of a real specimen and creating a simplified, but the more attractive and didactic image (MOSER, 2014;CERVIÑO;CORREIA;ALCARÁZ, 2016;GARCÊS, 2021). This innovative and more abstract form of representation was defined as a new kind of "scientific realism" (MOSER, 2014).…”