Graphism thesis

In the sociology of science and science and technology studies (STS), the graphism thesis is a proposition advanced by Bruno Latour that visual inscriptions—especially graphs, diagrams, and other visual representations—are central to the practice and authority of science. First articulated in Latour's 1990 essay "Visualization and Cognition: Drawing Things Together", the thesis holds that the power of scientific disciplines is closely linked to their capacity to produce, circulate, and combine visual representations of data. The thesis has been empirically tested by a number of researchers, who have found strong correlations between the level of graph use in scientific publications and the perceived "hardness" of scientific disciplines.