Representing Time in Scientific Diagrams

Cognitive scientists have shown increased interest in diagrams in recent years, but most of the focus has been on spatial representation, not conventions for representing time. We explore a variety of ways in which time is represented in diagrams by one research community: scientists investigating circadian rhythms at the behavioral and molecular levels. Diagrams that relate other variables to time or indicate a mechanism’s states across time use one or two spatial dimensions or circles to represent time and sometimes include explicit time markers (e.g., the hours on a clockface).