“Our Friend the Atomâ€: an image analysis of Disney's scientific communication book
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4025/rvc.v2i2.63688Keywords:
Science popularization, Education and entertainment, Imagery analysisAbstract
In this article, we analyze an image from the book Our Friend the Atom written by astrophysicist Heinz Haber with the Disney Science Department. In addition to analyzing the work, we investigate its relevance for science teaching and dissemination. Haber and Disney's book aims to explain how nuclear energy works and supports its use for good despite the danger of destruction, contaminarion and other disasters. Our aim is to contextualize the book's content and its visual images and identify aspects that contribute to the science curriculum. For this article, we look at a picture from the book that represents how chain reactions work to generate nuclear energy. Therefore, we follow a four-step method proposed by Silva and Neves (2018) to perform an image analysis, giving us an understanding of the visual language. We understand the importance of the book for scientific literacy through its illustrations and text, contextualizing it.
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References
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MCMULLIN, E. Galilean idealization. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, v. 16, n. 3, p. 247–273, set. 1985.
MECHLING, E. W.; MECHLING, J. The atom according to Disney. Quarterly Journal of Speech, v. 81, n. 4, p. 436–453, 1995.
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WARNER PATHÉ. News Magazine of the Screen: Atomic Energy. Warner Pathe News, 1950.
WHITLEY, D. The Idea of Nature in Disney Animation: From Snow White to WALL-E. Farnham UK: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2012.
WILLS, J. Disney culture. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2017.
ATKIN, A. Peirce´s Theory of Signs. 2013. Disponível em:
<https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2013/entries/peirce-semiotics/>. Acesso em: 12 mar. 2021.
BAXTER, J. Disney During World War II: How the Walt Disney Studio Contributed to Victory in the War. Los Angeles, CA: Disney Editions, 2014.
BERRY, C.; SCHMIED, L. A.; SCHROCK, J. C. The Role of Emotion in Teaching and Learning History: A Scholarship of Teaching Exploration. The History Teacher, v. 41, n. 4, p. 437–452, 2008.
BLAIR, J. A. Groundwork in the Theory of Argumentation: Selected Papers of J. Anthony Blair. Windsor, ON: Springer, 2012. v. 48
BUNGUM, B. Images of physics: an explorative study of the changing character of visual images in Norwegian physics textbooks. Nordic Studies in Science Education, v. 4, n. 2, p. 132–141, 1970.
CADURO, F. V. Design gráfico & pós-modernidade. Revista FAMECOS, v. 7, n. 13, p. 127–139, abr. 2008.
CATMULL, E.; WALLACE, A. Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration. New York: Random House Publishing Group, 2014.
COHEN, M. T.; JOHNSON, H. L. Improving the acquisition and retention of science material by fifth grade students through the use of imagery interventions. Instructional Science, v. 40, n. 6, p. 925–955, 2012.
CUNHA, M. V. Experiência e afeto em Dewey: uma conexão orgânica. Educação em Foco, v. 20, n. 2, p. 251, 2016.
DEWEY, J. Art as Experience. [s.l.] Perigee Books, 2005.
DIMOPOULOS, K.; KOULAIDIS, V.; SKLAVENITI, S. Towards an analysis of visual images in school science textbooks and press articles about science and technology. Research in Science Education, v. 33, n. 2, p. 189–216, 2003.
DISNEY, W. Educational values in factual nature pictures. Educational Horizons, v. 33, n. 2, p. 82–84, 1954.
FISCHMAN E., G. Reflections about images, visual culture, and educational research. Educational Researcher, v. 30, n. 8, p. 28–33, 2001.
GALILI, I. On the Power of Fine Arts Pictorial Imagery in Science Education. Science and Education, v. 22, n. 8, p. 1911–1938, 2013.
GARCIA, T. Form and Object: A Treatise on Things. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd, 2010.
GILBERT, J. K. Models and modelling: Routes to more authentic science education. In: International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 2, Anais...2004.
GIROD, M.; RAU, C.; SCHEPIGE, A. Appreciating the Beauty of Science Ideas: Teaching for Aesthetic Understanding. Science Education, v. 87, n. 4, p. 574–587, 2003.
GIROD, M.; WONG, D. An aesthetic (Deweyan) perspective on science learning: Case studies of three fourth graders. Elementary School Journal, 102(3), 198–224, 2000.
HABER, H. Our friend the atom. New York: Simons and Schuster, 1957.
HALDEN, G. Haunting Clouds. Alluvium: 21st-Century Writing, 21st-Century Approaches, v. 4, n. 5, 2016.
HENRIKSEN, M. A. Dr. Strangelove´s America: society and culture in the atomic age. [s.l.] University of California Press, 1997.
HOFSTEIN, A.; ROSENFELD, S. Bridging the Gap Between Formal and Informal Science Learning. Studies in Science Education, v. 28, n. 1, p. 87–112, jan. 1996.
HOOPES, J. Peirce on Signs: Writings on Semiotic by Charles Sanders Peirce. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1991.
HORTON, A.; BERNSTEIN, L. This video of mousetraps and ping-pong balls makes crystal clear why social distancing works. 2020. Disponível em: <https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/04/10/ohio-coronavirus-video/>. Acesso em: 12 maio. 2021.
HURD, P. D. Science literacy: Its meaning for american schools. Educational Leadership, v. 16, n. October, p. 13–16, 1958.
JACOB, F. Of flies, mice and men. [s.l.] Harvard University Press, 1998.
JACOBI, D.; SCHIELE, B. Scientific Imagery and Popularized Imagery: Differences and Similarities in the Photographic Portraits of Scientists. Social Studies of Science, v. 19, n. 4, p. 731–753, 29 nov. 1989.
JAKOBSON, B.; WICKMAN, P. O. What Difference Does Art Make in Science? A Comparative Study of Meaning-Making at Elementary School. Interchange, v. 46, n. 4, p. 323–343, 2015.
JAPPY, T. Introduction to Peircean Visual Semiotics. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2013.
JONÄ€NE, L. Using Analogies in Teaching Physics: A Study on Latvian Teachers´ Views and Experience. Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability, v. 17, n. 2, p. 53–73, 1 dez. 2015.
KOEHNE, J. B.; HEUMANN, I. Imagination einer Freundschaft - Disneys Our Friend theAtom. Bomben, Geister und Atome im Jahr 1957 I. In: Hí–CKER, A. et al. (Ed.). Verschiebungen. Analysen intermedialen diskursiven und zeitlichen transfer von wissen. [s.l.] Jahrgang, 2018. p. 372–395.
KRESS, G.; LEEUWEN, T. Van. Reading images: the grammar of visual design. 2nd. ed. New York: Routledge, 2006.
KROGH, S. L. Affective and social development. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, v. 2, n. 1, p. 55–62, 17 abr. 1982.
LA TAILLE, Y.; OLIVEIRA, M. K.; DANTAS, H. Piaget, Vygotsky, Wallon: teorias psicogenéticas em discussão. São Paulo: Summus Editorial, 1992.
LANGER, M. Why the Atom is our Friend: Disney, General Dynamics and the USS Nautilus. Art History, v. 18, n. 1, p. 63–96, 1995.
LENTE, D. van. Introduction: A Transnational History of Popular Images and Narratives of Nuclear Technologies in the First Two Postwar. In: LENTE, D. VAN (Ed.). The Nuclear Age in Popular Media: A Transnational History, 1945–1965 Postwar Decades. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. p. 1–17.
LESJAK, D. Service with character: the Disney Studios and World War II. [s.l], 2014.
LUSKE, H. Our Friend the Atom (Tomorrow Land) - Walt Disney Treasures, 1957. Disponível em:<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv714CgHP9E>. Acesso em: 27 maio. 2019.
MACHADO, J.; BRAGA, M. A. B. Can the History of Science Contribute to Modelling in Physics Teaching?: The Case of Galilean Studies and Mario Bunge´s Epistemology. Science and Education, v. 25, n. 7–8, p. 823–836, 2016.
MARTIN, K. Growing Up In The Atomic Age. MÄnoa Horizons, v. 2, n. 1, p. 149– 157, 2017.
MATTHEWS, M. R. Science Education, Teacher Education, and Culture. [s.l], 2011.
MCMULLIN, E. Galilean idealization. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, v. 16, n. 3, p. 247–273, set. 1985.
MECHLING, E. W.; MECHLING, J. The atom according to Disney. Quarterly Journal of Speech, v. 81, n. 4, p. 436–453, 1995.
MENÉNDEZ NAVARRO, A. Una cámara para nuestro amigo el átomo: la representación de las tecnologías médicas nucleares en NO-DO. Quaderns de Cine, n. 4, p. 47–56, 2015.
NORMAN, D. A. Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things. New York: Basic Books, 2005.
POPOVA, M. Our Friend the Atom: Disney´s 1956 Illustrated Propaganda for Nuclear Energy, 2013.
PUGH, K. J.; GIROD, M. Science, art, and experience: Constructing a science pedagogy from Dewey´s aesthetics. Journal of Science Teacher Education, v. 18, n. 1, p. 9–27, 2007.
SHORT, T. L. Peirce´s theory of signs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
SILVA, J. A. P.; NEVES, M. C. D. Leitura de imagens como possibilidade de aproximação entre arte e ciência. Em Aberto, v. 31, n. 103, dez. 2018.
STAVY, R. Using analogy to overcome misconceptions about conservation of matter. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, v. 28, n. 4, p. 305–313, 1991.
STUART, M. T. Everyday Scientific Imagination. Science & Education, v. 28, n. 6– 7, p. 711–730, 14 set. 2019.
VAN RIPER, A. B. Learning from Mickey, Donald and Walt: essays on Disney´s edutainment films. [s.l.] McFarland & Co., Publishers, 2011.
WARNER PATHÉ. News Magazine of the Screen: Atomic Energy. Warner Pathe News, 1950.
WHITLEY, D. The Idea of Nature in Disney Animation: From Snow White to WALL-E. Farnham UK: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2012.
WILLS, J. Disney culture. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2017.
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Published
2022-05-23
How to Cite
Santos, G. B. S. dos, Mello, D. A. T., & Neves, M. C. D. (2022). “Our Friend the Atomâ€: an image analysis of Disney’s scientific communication book. Vitruvian Cogitationes, 2(2), 104–121. https://doi.org/10.4025/rvc.v2i2.63688
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