Microcosms - Comparing Form And Structure

COMPARING FORM AND STRUCTURE

Although modern methods have moved towards quantitative analysis of characteristics unseen to the naked eye, form and structure are still studied to generate knowledge. However, unlike the role of visual correspondence in the earlier period, similarity is now seen as accidental. Some things which appear to be similar on the surface are now known to be entirely different structurally, and vice versa. One example of this, which we used in our display, is the comparison of Alabaster and Gypsum. Modern analysis of these rocks has revealed similarities unknown in the sixteenth century. On the surface, these two rocks appear completely different: one clear and crystalline, the other opaque and layered. In reality, they are different forms of the same mineral, formed and deformed by different geological processes.

On the other hand, our display of cubes used by different departments suggests that just as in the sixteenth century, repetition of forms across disciplinary boundaries is common, although these same forms tend to be used for different ends. The cube, the most basic geometric form, seems to show up in every field in some way. Salt molecules are cubes; psychologists test intelligence with cubes (and round holes); artists study cast shadows using cubes.

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