Opinion

In order to make better educational use of the wide geographical and disciplinary reach of this HPS&ST Note, invitations are extended for readers to contribute opinion pieces about any aspect of the past, present or future of HPS&ST studies. ​Such pieces can be sent direct to editor. Ideally they might be pieces that are already on the web, in which case a few sentences introduction, with link to web site can be sent.  If not on the web they will be placed there with a link.

​Nicholas Maxwell, Philosophy Department, University College London
          "What’s Wrong with HPS and What Needs be Done to Put it Right?"
​           Text available HERE
Heinz W. Droste, sociologist, writer and journalist.
           "An Interview with Mario Bunge" 
            Text available HERE
Nicholas Maxwell, Philosophy Department, University College London
           "The Crisis of Our Times, and What to Do about It"
             Text available HERE
Eric Scerri, Dept. of Chemistry, UCLA, USA
              "Bringing Science Down to Earth"
               Originally published in The Los Angeles Times on February 20th, 2017.
​                 Text available , at the #opinion section 
Robert Nola, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Auckland
                 "Fake News in the Post-Truth World"
                 Originally published in The New Zealand Herald on December 26, 2016.
​                 Text available HERE
Adam Piovarchy, PhD Candidate, University of Sydney 
Laura D'Olimpio, University of Notre Dame Australia: 
                 "Want to improve NAPLAN scores? Teach children philosophy"

The article linked below details the outcomes of teaching philosophy in  Australian primary (elementary) and secondary schools. This is a relatively new initiative with encouraging results for student performance in other school subjects and specifically in the highly politicized National Assessment Programme for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN).

                 Full text HERE

Matthew Stanley, New York University: 
                  "Why Should Physicists Study History?"

Abstract: Some things about physics aren’t well covered in a physics education. Those are the messy, rough edges that make everything difficult: dealing with people, singly or in groups; misunderstandings; rivals and even allies who won’t fall in line. Physicists often do not see such issues as contributing to science itself. But social interactions really do influence what scientists produce. Often physicists learn that lesson the hard way. Instead, they could equip themselves for the actual collaborative world, not the idealized solitary one that has never existed.  History can help. An entire academic discipline—history of science—studies the rough edges. 

We historians of science see ourselves as illustrating the power of stories. How a community tells its history changes the way it thinks about itself. A historical perspective on science can help physicists understand what is going on when they practice their craft, and it provides numerous tools that are useful for physicists themselves.  History of science exposes scientists to new ways of thinking and forces them to re-examine what is already known. Such intellectual flexibility is essential for any discipline, but it is particularly important for fields as influential and authoritative as physics and other sciences. How do we know what we know, and how might it be otherwise?
​
Full text in Physics Today (2016, vol.69, no.7): HERE

Philip. A. Sullivan, Professor Emeritus, Institute for Aerospace Studies,                                                   University of Toronto. 
                            "Mathematics Teaching in Ontario’s Public Schools"

Abstract: This article reviews literature from academic and other sources on problems in mathematics education for North American school grades K-12. It is shown that, especially for the critical grades K-6, the dominant educators’ ideas are controversial, being subject to strong criticism by other educators, by mathematicians, by cognitive psychologists, and by other concerned professionals. This extends to characterization of the subject matter of mathematics as well as to both curriculum and teaching practices. Aspects of the Ministry of Ontario’s curriculum and advisory literature are discussed. The author concludes that, in view of Ontario school childrens’ poorshowing on international tests, detailed reviews of curriculum structure, of textbooks, of teaching practices and of evaluation methods are all needed. Two recent critiques of U.S. mathematics education are used to suggest a path for reform.

LINK:

Gregory Radick, University of Leeds:  
      "Teach students the biology of their time: An experiment in genetics            education reveals how Mendel’s legacy holds back the teaching of             science"
LINK: http://www.nature.com/news/teach-students-the-biology-of-their-time-1.19936 
(Thanks to Springer Nature for allowing wider distribution of this article and link.)