Abstract
Scholars have argued that the history of science might facilitate an understanding of processes of science. Focusing on science education for citizenship and active involvement in debates on socioscientific issues, one might argue that today’s post-academic science differs from academic science in the past, making the history of academic science irrelevant. However, this article argues that, under certain conditions, cases from the history of science should be included in science curricula for democratic participation. One condition is that the concept of processes is broadened to include science–society interactions in a politically sensitive sense. The scope of possibilities of using historical case studies to prepare for citizenship is illustrated by the use of a well-known case from the history of science: Millikan’s and Ehrenhaft’s “Battle over the electron”.
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Kolstø, S.D. Science education for democratic citizenship through the use of the history of science. Sci & Educ 17, 977–997 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-007-9084-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-007-9084-8