This article considers Australian receptions of C. P. Snow's "The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution" (1959), and of the controversy over the literary critic F. R. Leavis's combative 1962 response to it. Taking a lead from conceptual insights in global histories of science and the history of knowledge, the paper considers the…

Throughout the nineteenth century, the sciences in the United States went through many professional and disciplinary shifts. While the impact of these changes on university education has been well established, their consequences at the level of high school education have been often overlooked. In mathematics, debates at the level of university…

Assuming that textbooks give literary expression to cultural and ideological values of a nation or group, we propose the analysis of chemistry textbooks used in Brazilian universities throughout the twentieth century. We analyzed iconographic and textual aspects of 31 textbooks which had significant diffusion in the context of Brazilian…

General education must develop in students an appreciation of the power of science, how it works, why it is an effective knowledge generation tool, and what it can deliver. Knowing what science has discovered is desirable but less important.

When the journal "Minerva" was founded in 1962, science and higher educational issues were high on the agenda, lending impetus to the interdisciplinary field of "Science Studies" "qua" "Science Policy Studies." As government expenditures for promoting various branches of science increased dramatically on…

This article provides for a concise history of nonlinearity from the context of the changing assumptions in science throughout the turn of the twentieth century. Concerned with the development of an ethics of technology in higher education, it establishes a background for ongoing research on quantitative methods in the social sciences. The history…

Susan E. Carey, winner of the 2009 Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions, is cited for groundbreaking studies of the nature of concepts and conceptual change. Her research deepens understanding of the development of concepts, and of the belief systems in which they are embedded, over human childhood, over the history of science, and…

Jose Maria Albareda (1902-1966) was an applied chemist and a prominent member of the Roman Catholic organization, Opus Dei, who played a crucial role in organizing the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientficas (CSIC), the new scientific institution created by the Franco regime in 1939. The paper analyses first the formative years in…

Discusses the history of American physics, indicating that much effort has been on the atomic bond and high-energy physics, to the detriment of other topics and areas. To offset this tendency, significant research is going on in the history of solid-state physics, with glimmerings in the history of physics education. (JN)

Lists references that focus on the empirical research related to the nature of science as an educational goal along with a few influential philosophical works. The list proves useful to educators and scholars in other fields interested in the nature of science and how understanding can be realized as a goal of science instruction. (Author/SAH)

Focuses on the selection, classification, and comparative presentation of various proposals concerning the contribution of the history of physics in physics education that have been designed and/or carried out as part of either research or curriculum development during the last century. (Author/SAH)

Discusses the development of physical organic chemistry: (1) before 1920; (2) from 1920 to 1930; (3) from 1930 to 1940; and (4) after 1940. Major accomplishments in these periods are noted. (JN)

This document highlights key moments in the history of science chosen for their national impact and for the insight they provide on the values and principles that guide the inner workings of the National Science Board (NSB) in its governance of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and its role in national policy. This brochure takes a walk…

Examines the development of American astronomy by discussing: general studies on the subject; early efforts through 1825; establishing foundations (1825-1875); the transitional period (1875-1945); and the space age (1945 to the present). Points out that the field is underdeveloped with a need for additional work. (JN)

Discusses the development of chemistry in the United States by considering: (1) chemistry as an evolving body of ideas/techniques, and as a set of conceptual resources affecting and affected by the development of other sciences; and (2) chemistry related to the history of American social and economic institutions and practices. (JN)