Making something visible is not the same as visualizing something

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Making something visible versus visualizing something

Science and technology have extended our sense of vision: a microscope allows us to see objects so small that they are invisible to the naked eye; a telescope does the same for distant objects. In biology, selective staining helps us see objects clearly by improving colour contrast. Column chromatography goes one step ahead: it makes those differences visible when the properties in question have no optical counterpart at all in nature. All these are techniques that make something visible-but whether they allow us to visualize something depends not on the techniques but on our imagination: a line chart helps us visualize what the data mean, a flow diagram helps us visualize a process, and a route map helps us visualize the path we want to take.

Therefore, avoid writing "differences between the DNA samples were visualized by means of gel electrophoresis" (yet another technique) when you mean "differences between the DNA samples were made visible using gel electrophoresis." Or avoid writing "the spores were visualized using trypan blue" (trypan blue is a stain) when you mean "the spores were made visible using trypan blue" (in fact, you can write "the spores were stained with trypan blue" because it is understood that the purpose of staining is to make an object visible).

Making something visible versus visualizing something

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