Project 2061: Science for All Americans

Historical Perspectives

“There are two principal reasons for including some knowledge of history among our recommendations.”

Project 2061 (cont.)

“One reason is that generalizations about how the scientific enterprise operates would be empty without some concrete examples. Consider, for example, the proposition that new ideas are limited by the context in which they are conceived; are often rejected by the scientific establishment; sometimes spring from unexpected findings; and usually grow slowly, through contributions from many different investigators. Without historical examples, these generalizations would be no more than slogans, however well they might be remembered. For this purpose, any number of episodes might have been selected.”

Project 2061 (cont.)

“A second reason is that some episodes in the history of scientific endeavor are of surpassing significance to our cultural heritage. Such episodes certainly include Galileo’s role in changing our perception of our place in the universe; Newton’s demonstration that the same laws apply to motion in the heavens and on earth; Darwin’s long observations of the variety and relatedness of life forms that led to his postulating a mechanism for how they came about; Lyell’s careful documentation of the unbelievable age of the earth; and Pasteur’s identification of infectious disease with tiny organisms that could be seen only with a microscope. These stories stand among the milestones of the development of all though in Western civilization.”

History of Science and Science Education

To the observations of the Project 2061 report, science educators must add additional reasons for including the history of science in our reflection and our methods.

The first is that the history of science informs us as to the magnitude of the cognitive shifts that we are asking of our students.

History of Science and Science Education

The second is that the history of science informs the philosophy of science.

Although some philosophers argue that history has no place in the philosophy of science, the philosophers to whom science educators owe a debt for their insight use history as the basis for understanding the cognitive shifts that are required in the learning of science.

History of Science and Science Education

The third is that historically based philosophy of science informs us at how people learn as individuals and the importance of the community in creating scientific knowledge and norms.

The ’s of the History of Science

As physicists we are always interested in measurement, and particularly in rates.

Let’s measure the time differences between significant scientific events.

Take as your zero point the construction of the pyramids in Egypt 4500 years ago.Find the ’s between the following events.Refer to: http://www.crimsonbird.com/science/timeline.htm

Estimate: 1. First record of magnetic

attraction.2. First records of

electrical attraction.3. Pythagorean Theorem4. Leucippus and

Democritus propose atoms

5. Aristotle Teaches

6. Ptolemy’s theory of planetary motion.

7. Library at Alexandria burned

8. Rockets in China9. Gutenberg Bible10. Leonardo da Vinci11. Copernicus12. Tyco Brahe13. Galileo and his

telescope

Find the ’s between the following events.

14. Galileo in Rome

15. Snell’s Law

16. Galileo denounced

17. Pascal’s laws

18. Principia

19. Opticks

20. Lavoisier and elements

21. First battery

22. Changing electric field makes magnetic field (Ampere)

23. Magnetic field surrounds current (Oersted)

24. Changing magnetic field makes electric field (Faraday and Henry)