Center for Visual Cultures Mellon Lecture

17th century sightings of Saturn that were accepted as accurate depended on clear verbal and visual communication. The perceived accuracy of observations relied on the author reporting not only the phenomena he saw, but also on his telescope, the conditions of the observation, and his location. Accuracy was not something discerned from an image, but rather something understood through the combined reading of the article, understanding of the context of the findings, and viewing of the image.