The cognitive life of mechanical molecular models

• Material molecular models are claimed to be cognitive augmentations.
• The material and representational properties of such models are examined.
• The use of these models as research tools is compared to paper-and-pencil strategies.
• The modeling strategy exploiting the materiality of these models is analyzed as a form of haptic reasoning.
• The cognitive enhancements allowed by the intelligent use of these models are examined.

The use of physical models of molecular structures as research tools has been central to the development of biochemistry and molecular biology. Intriguingly, it has received little attention from scholars of science. In this paper, I argue that these physical models are not mere three-dimensional representations but that they are in fact very special research tools: they are cognitive augmentations. Despite the fact that they are external props, these models serve as cognitive tools that augment and extend the modeler’s cognitive capacities and performance in molecular modeling tasks. This cognitive enhancement is obtained because of the way the modeler interacts with these models, the models’ materiality contributing to the solving of the molecule’s structure. Furthermore, I argue that these material models and their component parts were designed, built and used specifically to serve as cognitive facilitators and cognitive augmentations.