The book examines the shifting concept of objectivity in the history of science and its impact on science education. It argues that traditional views of science as objective and certain are challenged when exploring historical controversies. Instead of a straightforward scientific method, the narrative reveals a landscape filled with debates, varying interpretations, and inherent uncertainties. It suggests that while objectivity is often equated with scientific rigor, it overshadows other important epistemic virtues, complicating our understanding of truth and certainty in scientific discourse.
Exploring nearly 300 years of scientific history, this book delves into pivotal episodes and experiments that shaped scientific progress, highlighting the impact of controversies and rivalries among scientists. It offers insights into how competition and debate have driven innovation in the field. Additionally, the text provides guidelines for further research, encouraging readers to engage with the ongoing evolution of scientific inquiry.
How Science Works and its Importance for Science Education
244pages
9 heures de lecture
Challenging the common perception of Feyerabend, the book presents him as a staunch supporter of science, revealing his authentic vision of scientific practice. It provides a theoretical framework rooted in his philosophy, offering criteria for assessing research in major science education journals through the lens of his epistemological anarchism. Additionally, the text evaluates general chemistry and physics textbooks, enhancing readers' understanding of Feyerabend's contributions to the philosophy of science.
The book delves into the history and philosophy of science, examining its methodological and educational implications. It offers innovative teaching strategies grounded in real classroom experiences, focusing on the concept of 'science-in-the-making' to enhance understanding and engagement in scientific processes.
Research in science education has recognized the importance of history and philosophy of science (HPS). The role played by textbooks in developing students' informed conceptions of NOS has been a source of considerable interest for science educators.
It goes without saying that atomic structure, including its dual wave-particle nature, cannot be demonstrated in the classroom. Thus, for most science teachers, especially those in physics and chemistry, the textbook is their key resource and their students' core source of information. Science education historiography recognizes the role played by the history and philosophy of science in developing the content of our textbooks, and with this in mind, the authors analyze more than 120 general chemistry textbooks published in the USA, based on criteria derived from a historical reconstruction of wave-particle duality. They come to some revealing conclusions, including the fact that very few textbooks discussed issues such as the suggestion, by both Einstein and de Broglie, and before conclusive experimental evidence was available, that wave-particle duality existed. Other large-scale omissions included de Broglie's prescription for observing this duality, and the importance of the Davisson-Germer experiments, as well as the struggle to interpret the experimental data they were collecting. Also untouched was the background to the role played by Schrödinger in developing de Broglie's ideas. The authors argue that rectifying these deficiencies will arouse students' curiosity by giving them the opportunity to engage creatively with the content of science curricula. They also assert that it isn't just the experimental data in science that matters, but the theoretical insights and unwonted inspirations, too. In addition, the controversies and discrepancies in the theoretical and experimental record are key drivers in understanding the development of science as we know it today
From Aftab Senior to Aftab Junior, the story traverses 100 years of imagined family history of three generations of the author from the first quarter of the 20th Century to the 21st Century. The story reverberates from the narrow streets of Lahore's walled city to the Caspian Bay in Iran and on to America, Australia and finally culminating in South-East Asian city of Bandung.
This book examines the integration of history and philosophy of science (HPS) into chemistry education, advocating for a teaching approach that reflects the human context of scientific practice. It critiques traditional methods and proposes innovative strategies to enhance understanding of chemistry's development and significance.
