explain why it is important to know the history of science
Answers
1. We learn what the world was like before we had our current understanding. People used to think the world was flat, and that the stars and the sun revolved around the Earth, and that earthquakes were messages from the gods. Each bit of our current understanding of science came gradually, through observation, measurement, and experimentation. Learning how that understanding came to be helps us also learn about our cultural history.
2. As we learn how other people made new discoveries, we learn new ways of thinking that might allow us to make our own new discoveries. We see things every day. Tricks of the light, or strange movements of the ground. We don’t often think enough about why or how those things happen. Learning about the history of science shows us how other people took input from nature and made sense of it. Then we can take our own thought exercises to the Nth degree, and perhaps come up with an original idea.
3. As we learn about the history of science, we learn about great men and women who thought outside the box and often went against convention. As a refreshing break from the bombardment of people who are famous just for being famous, learning about formal and informal scientists helps us learn about great thinkers. People who didn’t strive for the lowest common denominator. They are often great examples of learning for us and our children.
4. Placing scientific discoveries and advancement in the context of other historical events is important. By learning such facts as the last year of the American Civil War was also the year that Gregor Mendel established his laws of inheritance, the basis for genetics, we see history in context. And major societal upheavals, such as the French Revolution, also encouraged new ways of scientific thinking.
5. Learning about the history of science is a way to bring history alive for those not given to the humanities bent.History is often taught as a series of wars, or economic collapses. It’s less often taught as a series of advancements, discoveries, and positive events. While the history of science has plenty of backsliding, wrong turns, and dead ends, learning about history in this way will likely fascinate those who lean toward STEM interests.