The history of chemistry in chemical education

Abstract

The role of history in science education has recently garnered wider interest owing to the heightened importance the Next Generation Science Standards (2012) has placed on conveying to students an understanding of the “nature of science.” This essay strives to set this development in historical context by examining the changing role of the history of chemistry in chemical education over the last century. It focuses on two specific episodes: Edgar Fahs Smith’s history of chemistry course at the University of Pennsylvania and James Bryant Conant’s ultimately unsuccessful program at Harvard for general science education. The essay then compares these two episodes to the current emphasis on teaching the “nature of science” to students, arguing that using history to teach the “nature of science” distorts history in a manner that undermines the professional values of historians and suggesting that collaboration between historians and science educators is possible only when the professional interests of both are preserved.