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CONTENTS
The use of science history a way to teach science 1: That knowledge called science 2: From empirical to theorical mathematics 3: Hidden qualities, forces and movements 4: From astrology to astronomy 5:Transmutation of elements. From alcheemy to chemistry 6: The problem of the genesis of living beings Science history for higher education 1: Ancient science: the closed universe and the living world 2: Modern science: the open and mechanistic universe 3: Contemporary science I. XIX century: energy, matter and vitalism 4: Contemporary science II. XX century: the envolving universe The information of the teaching staff: the two cultures
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The curriculum has been organized into six units as follows UNIT 1: THAT KNOWLEDGE CALLED SCIENCE This first unit is designed to convey the idea that science does have a history and that it is a system of useful knowledge created by humans. 1.1) Knowledge and myths: the human need of explanation. Mythical and religious explanations. Main cosmogonies. Ritual and magic as answers to the need to control natural forces. The survival of ritual and magic through history, this impulse now figuring in the pseudosciences. 1.2) That knowledge called science: types of explanation provided by science. Birth of science in Greece. Mathematization and experimentation. The characteristics of contemporary science 1.3) The scientific method. Conflict between the method of Aristotle and Galileo. Contemporary understandings of the scientific method 1.4) Ideological nature of Science: science as a means of controlling nature. Science, technology and the economy. Division of knowledge into scientific specialties. The positivist program within science UNIT 2: FROM EMPIRICAL TO THEORICAL MATEMATICS Mathematics first appears in ancient civilizations such as Egypt as a practical tool to solve problems of surveying, architecture and astrology. It is with the Greeks that mathematics achieves an abstract status and questions are asked about the nature of mathematics. Within Pythagoreanism, mathematics becomes part of a religious program for the purification of the soul. Gradually, however, the subjects divests itself of religious and practical associations and by the time of Euclid becomes a precise and powerful intellectual discipline. 2.1) Empirical Mathematics: an anthropological perspective (counting and measuring). The invention of writing and numbering. Mathematics in ancient cultures: Egypt, Babylon, China and India. The "antiphairesis" method. 2.2) Arithmetic in Greece: Pythagoras and musical harmony. Reason, analogy and proportion. Figured numbers. Divisibility. The theory of even and odd numbers. Prime and composite number theory. The Pythagorean doctrine that things are numbers. 2.3) Geometry in Greece: Thales' theorem and the concept of symmetry. Determination of areas. Proportional averages. The golden section. Irrational quantities. 2.4) Mathematics as a theoretical science: proof, demonstration and application. Indirect demonstration method. Axioms, postulates, common notions and definitions in Euclids´ Elements. Archimedes and the method. 2.5) Some illustrations of the application of mathematics to physical problems. Reflection and the optical law. Eratosthenes and the size of the earth. Relative distance from the Earth to the Sun and from the Earth to the Moon according to Aristarchos of Samos. UNIT 3: HIDDEN QUALITIES, FORCES AND MOVEMENTS Movement has always been at the core of human questioning about the nature of the physical world. It was long accepted that a principle of place persistence ruled, and in consequence all mobile objects demanded a motor principle (inner in animated beings and outer in inanimate objects). In this unit we try to question this erroneous belief (essential in order to understand the new Physics of Galileo and Newton) and tackle the problem of action at a distance. 3.1) A living world full of hidden qualities. 3.2) Movement: explanation in terms of a physics of natural places. Natural and violent movements. The primum mobile. A teleological physics. 3.3) Separating movements and forces: Galileo. Inertia. Force is not the cause of movement but of changes of movement. 3.4) Contact forces and action at a distance. A mechanical physics. Descartes. Newton and gravitation: a reintroduction of hidden qualities?. Faraday and Maxwell: The notion of a field of forces. The vision of classical physics. UNIT 4: FROM ASTROLOGY TO ASTRONOMY From very early times humans have believed that their lives were subject to the influence of the stars, planets and other celestial objects. Early accounts of celestial phenomena were couched in anthropomorphic terms, but gradually, as science progressed, the heavens became depersonalized. Finally, following the Scientific Revolution, they were explained in the same terms as those used to account for terrestrial phenomena. It is a paradox however that pseudoscientific beliefs such as astrology still persist in the popular imagination. 4.1) Anthropomorphic views of the universe.. The relationship between macrocosm and microcosm. 4.2) Belief in celestial influences. Early observations. Constellations and zodiacal signs. The planets. 4.3) The abandonment of anthropomorphism: from a closed Cosmos to an open Universe. Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo. Implications of this new vision. 4.4) A unique Physics for the two worlds (celestial and terrestrial): Newton and the universal gravitational law. UNIT 5: TRANSMUTATION OF ELEMENTS. FROM ALCHEMY TO CHEEMISTRY Scholars have interpreted Alchemy using a range of different perspectives. It has been considered as a precursor of Chemistry, but also appears related to magic. If we examine both the method and objectives of alchemy we find that in the alchemist’s laboratory, materialism and religiosity converge. A leading alchemical figure was Paracelsus who opened a door to the new philosophy of "Iatrochemistry". Later, Lavoisier set out the boundaries of what we know today as Chemistry and by applying measurement and the chemical balance to chemical processes he brought chemistry within the compass of the quantitative scientific method. 5.1) Alchemy: a short story from antiquity to Paracelsus. Alchemical concepts and symbols. Alchemy´s role in different cultures. 5.2) The problem of transmuting elements: the philosophical stone and the idea of healing ill metals. Alchemy and Hermetism. The relationship of Alchemy with the works of Plato and Aristotle. 5.3) Transition to chemistry: the work of Paracelsus. Iatrochemistry. The project of Lavoisier. The systematic use of the balance: quantification. Alchemy´s swan song: the Phlogiston theory. The emergence of Chemistry. Chemical reactions. UNIT 6: THE PROBLEM OF THE GENESIS OF LIVING BEINGS Can matter organize itself into life? The idea of spontaneous generation was present in antiquity and preserved its influence until the seventeenth century and beyond. Pasteur’s works finally refuted the postulates of spontaneous generation. Such work had implications for the debate between creationism and evolutionism. This itself had deeper repercussions in science, politics and religion. 6.1) Spontaneous generation: its history and evolution from superior beings to microorganisms. Redi´s experiences. The polemic between Needham and Spallanzani. 6.2) Conflict between creationism and evolutionism: Darwin and spontaneous generation. Social repercussions and political and religious implications. Spontaneous generation and vitalism. 6.3) Pasteur. Spontaneous generation in Pasteur´s works. The way microbiological experiments challenge the idea of spontaneous generation. The polemic with Felix Pouchet. Consequences of Pasteur´s works for biology, medicine and industry. SCIENCE HISTORY FOR HIGHER EDUCATION At this level students study three main epochs in the history of science: the ancient, modern (17th –18th century) and contemporary (19th - 20th century). Interdisciplinarity is maintained by examining a wide range of disciplines: physics, biology, mathematics, medicine, and technology. In this course, science is presented as a human construction, set firmly in its historical context. The approach is informed by the document "Propositions for a future teaching", written by the College of France and commissioned by the French President. A guiding light from this report is the principle that "One of the most important roles of culture is its capacity to fight against all forms of ideological, political or religious repression. Education should allow citizens to protect themselves from the symbolic abuses of power (advertising, propaganda, and political or religious fanaticism). Educators should inculcate not only a respect for science (but without fetishism) as a rational activity, but should also equip people to resist the abuses of science." Such rational and critical skills and attitudes are developed by respecting science as a worthy product of the human intellect, an open activity and where knowledge is provisional and subject to change. It follows that the truths of science are not necessarily fixed but evolve through time. We have chosen to dedicate half of the course to the sciences of the 19th and 20th centuries. The advantage of this is that the contemporary relevance of such topics is interesting for the pupil. One drawback is that the complex concepts found in this period are challenging for some pupils. The essential requirement then is to use an inclusive language and level of explanation that can be appreciated by all. As Ilya Prigogone says "The science of our century must enchant not disappoint". The approach adopted is consistent with the Spanish Law for Reforming Education (L.O.G.S.E) which stipulates that education at this level should provide students with knowledge, skills and intellectual and human maturity, thereby allowing students to meet their social functions with competence and responsibility, whilst enabling them to pursue further study or professional qualifications. The history of science also serves other functions: from a technical perspective it enables students to appreciate the scientific method in action, from a humanistic one it serves to bridge the culture of science and the humanities. The four units studied are indicated below UNIT 1: ANCIENT SCIENCE: THE CLOSED UNIVERSE AND THE LIVING WORLD Ancient science was developed in the world of classical and Hellenistic Greece over ten centuries. This unit examines why science began in a specific place and time. It also examines the ontological questions raised by the preSocratics in their search for the primary substance or arche (a r c h ). Such questions culminated in the 4 element theory of Empedocles. By the end of the classical period the Greek philosophers had elaborated three basic models of the universe: mathematical, mechanical and organic. In the Hellenistic period more specialized developments within mathematics, astronomy and medicine take place. The unit ends by examining ancient medicine and conceptions of the body. 1.1) A new way of questioning: the logos. 1.2) The problem of the origin and constitution of matter. 1.3) The mathematical conception of the Universe: Pythagoreanism and Platonism. 1.4) The mechanical conception of the Universe: the atomism. 1.5) The organic conception of the Universe: Aristotle. 1.6) Hellenistic science. Mathematization of the physical world. 1.7) Conception of human body from Hippócrates to Galen. UNIT 2: MODERN SCIENCE: THE OPEN AND MECHANISTIC UNIVERSE In the teaching of modern science the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century must be seen as a key topic. To understand the scope of the change in this period we need to study some of the basic characteristics of the medieval world-picture in order to make clear to students what changes the revolution brought. The teacher will choose those essential aspects of science, technique and religion needed to make an appropriate exploration of the Scientific Revolution. 2.1) Some precursors: science, technique and religion in the Middle Ages. 2.2) Characteristics of the Scientific Revolution. 2.3) Contributions of Copernicus and Kepler. 2.4) Galileo: science method and the new mechanics 2.5) Newton: the law of universal gravitation. The mechanical universe. 2.6) The human body: Vesalius, Descartes and Harvey. 2.7) Technology and new sciences in the Enlightenment. UNIT 3: CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE I. XIX CENTURY: ENERGY, MATTER AND VITALISM In the 19th century classical science (most notably physics) reached its climax, yet by the end of the century fault lines were already present that led to the emergence of a new paradigm in the early 20th century. Crucial advances were made in thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism and hence these topics are considered in some depth. But without any doubt the theory of evolution is also one of the major milestones of thought in that and indeed any period. It was through evolutionary thinking that the first coherent and plausible accounts of the origins and development of life were made, laying the foundations for subsequent work in genetics in the 20th century. Another feature of the 19th century studied in this unit is the technical, social and political impact of the industrial revolution. 3.1) Chemistry as a science. Lavoisier. 3.2) The beginnings of Thermodynamics, Electricity and Magnetism. 3.3) Maxwell´s synthesis of electromagnetism and optics. 3.4) Evolutionary ideas. Darwin and his theories of natural selection and adaptation. The conflict with Creationism. 3.5) The generalization of the experimental method and its application in Biology. 3.6) The Industrial Revolution and the development of new techniques. 3.7) The crisis in classical physics. UNIT 4: CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE II. XX CENTURY: THE ENVOLVING UNIVERSE The complexity and sheer volume of scientific research in the 20th century makes impossible the task of covering all developments, yet it is important to follow a coherent and understandable path. Some topics such as quantum mechanics and advanced genetics, interesting and important as they are, are formidably difficult and we have avoided these. The main topics examined in this unit are atomic structure, relativity and cosmology. The progress of science in this century has been so rapid and momentous that ethical and ecological issues are raised. 4.1) The discovery of the atom. 4.2) Relativity theory and its paradoxes. 4.3) The expanding Universe. 4.4) The principle of entropy and its implications. 4.5) Information theory. 4.6) Science and technology: ethical problems. 4.7) Science and technology: ecological problems. THE INFORMATION OF THE TEACHING STAFF: THE TWO CULTURES A problem for educators wishing to treat interdisciplinarity seriously is the development of a program of teacher training to overcome the deep divide between the humanities and the sciences that C P Snow identified as the "two cultures". It is through the history of science that a bridge can be made between these two cultures. The problem to be confronted is that those teachers who now teach in the humanities or the sciences have been schooled in one or the other of these traditions. Sadly, the humanist perspective on the sciences is largely absent from both university degrees in science and the typical training of teachers In Tenerife we have sought to implement our philosophy of humanizing the sciences in a variety of ways. A central focus for our work is the "Seminario Orotava de Historia de la Ciencia". This unit has been active since 1993 and is based in the town of Orotava on the island of Tenerife. Recently its name has been changed to the "Foundation Orotava.." Under this aegis we have held courses for school teachers, university students and university lecturers. Conferences recently held include those on the history of Greek geometry, mathematics (Archimedes to Leibnitz) and science over the period 1700-1900. More recently we have designed the curricula described here and are currently participating in a European funded Commenius project (Project Penelope) with colleagues from Nantes in France and Chester in the UK. The topics examined in this last project include the history of mathematics, Greek science and philosophy, reconstructing classic scientific instruments, Darwinism, women in science and the history of geology.
ALLEA (All European Academies) (1998). The role of History of Science in University Education. CONANT,J.B. (1957). Harvard Case histories in experimental Science. Harvard: University Press. MINISTERIO DE EDUCACIÓN Y CIENCIA. Bachillerato y ESO: estructura y contenidos. PRIGOGINE,I. y STENGERS,I. (1983). La nueva alianza (metamorfosis de la Ciencia). Madrid: Alianza. PRIGOGINE,I. y STENGERS,I. (1990). Entre el tiempo y la eternidad. Madrid: Alianza. |
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