Scientific Myth-Conceptions

Abstract

Using several familiar examples-Gregor Mendel, H. B. D. Kettlewell, Alexander Fleming, Ignaz Semmelweis, and William Harvey-I analyze how educators currently frame historical stories to portray the process of science. They share a rhetorical architecture of myth, which misleads students about how science derives its authority. Narratives of error and recovery from error, alternatively, may importantly illustrate the nature of science, especially its limits. Contrary to recent claims for reform, we do not need more history in science education. Rather, we need different types of history that convey the nature of science more effectively. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.