This article, first, describes some categories of contemporary instrument-produced digital images present in nanoscale-related scientific research, explores how each category of image is produced, studies the kinds of "content" of images, and finally analyzes their uses in research practices and their place in cognition. Three ways in which images figure in epistemological operations will be suggested. Secondly, we will argue that parallels and dissimilarities between images in science and the images of art helps delineate some general characteristics of images, and draw attention to important particularities of the scientific image. Thirdly, we will examine the differences between experimental and simulation images in nano scale research. And finally, we focus on the epistemological operations examining, in ascending order of significance, the introduction of colour for cognitive purposes, the selection of images for critical exploration, and the operation termed "image/argumentation".
Scientific Image; Form; Force; Perturbation; Artistic image; Epistemology; Instrumentation; Nano-scale research
