Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 March 2011
Summary
The title of this book refers to two components – science and imaging. Science, by usual definitions, has two aspects: a body of knowledge and a methodology. The former is the organized body of information that we have gained about ourselves and our environment by rigorous application of the latter. The scope of the scientific body of knowledge is vast; indeed, it is the total knowledge we have of our universe and everything in it. However, there is a restriction on this knowledge: it must have been derived through the scientific method. This carefully circumscribed method uses observation and experimentation in a logical and rational order to describe and explain natural phenomena. Scientific imaging, which is the specific topic of this presentation, likewise has two aspects: it is a body of knowledge – knowledge gained from the application of imaging – and a scientific methodology to answer scientific questions. While both of these elements, knowledge and methodology, are equally important, this book will focus on the methodological aspects of scientific imaging. However, this methodology will be extensively illustrated by examples from the commensurate body of knowledge. Hopefully the reader will be able to appreciate not only how to make and analyze a scientific image, but also what might be learned by doing so.
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- Introduction to the Science of Medical Imaging , pp. 1 - 12Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009