Presented is a historical account of science teaching in the United States from the era of Thomas Jefferson to the present. Special emphasis is placed on present demands to reform science teaching from the elementary level through college. Reform policies for consideration are listed in the article. (MA)

Analyzes the presentations of electric current in physics textbooks. Concludes that from 1891 to 1991 most textbooks used a fluid model, which predated Faraday, for explaining direct-current circuits. (PR)

Details an eight-year project designed to reform a physics curriculum using a philosophical, historical perspective and inservice teacher training. Includes information on the development and implementation of the project as well as details about the teacher's guide. (DDR)

This document provides background information on balloons including: (1) the history of balloons; (2) balloon manufacturing; (3) biodegradability; (4) the fate of latex balloons; and (5) the effect of balloons on the rainforest and sea mammals. Also included as part of this instructional kit are four fun experiments that allow students to…

Themes from history and philosophy of chemistry have traditionally been absent in chemistry education. This paper targets the problem of demarcationism within the context of chemistry and alchemy. In so doing, it argues that demarcationism can be an appropriate base for bringing the historical and philosophical aspects of the discipline of…

The potential benefits of satellite communications development have been recognized since the notion of a geostationary "space platform" was proposed by Arthur C. Clarke in 1945. Although there have been examples of developmental applications of satellite technology, the promise has been slow in being fulfilled. The history of the…

Offers a description of the instrumentation and methods utilized in this attempt at naked eye astronomy one century after the invention of the telescope. Also examines the motives which resulted in the implementation of an antiquated mode of observation. (Author/CP)

Correspondence of Benjamin Franklin provides authenticity to a historical account of early work in the field of lightning. Present-day theories concerning the formation and propagation of lightning are expressed and photographic evidence provided. (CP)

Presents a series of quotes that give insight into the laboratory setting, experimental technique, and chemical interests of Sherlock Holmes. (GS)

Describes the development of the practice of medicine including dentistry in America. (LS)

Traces the men, experiments, and hypotheses involved in elucidating the nature of molecular motion from the work of Robert Brown in 1827 to Einstein in 1905. (GS)

Noting that analogy is widely considered to be an important mechanism of scientific thinking and a source of creative insight in theory development, this report considers the implicit constraints that determine analogical soundness. The report first examines the constraints that govern analogical reasoning as it is predicated currently. The report…

This paper contains informal remarks on action research in social psychology from its post World War II origins to its current status. Kurt Lewin first described action research in the 1946 article, "Action Research and Minority Problems," as a three-step process of program planning, program execution, and follow-up evaluation. Ronald Lippitt and…