The History of Science

I started my Bilbliography of 25 Children's Science Books this weekend.  As I was exploring my local library, I discovered that quite a bit of the books I pulled introduced children to the history of science.

As I'm sure many of you have figured out, I love history!  During my undergraduate education, I was pulled between my love of the ancient world and my love of science, so pretty much all of my classes were either about the history of science, or all about the Ancient Mediterranean.  With three years of French thrown in there somewhere...

We have already read together a book that combines both Ancient History and the History of Science (Thanks, Eratosthenes).  We owe much of our understanding about the natural world to the Greeks, those great philosophers!  Did you know that philosopher, literally translated, means "lover of wisdom"?  I believe all of us can become great philosophers.  More importantly, we can instill the love of learning in our students and create a new generation of great philosophers.

Since we are all exploring children's books, I was thinking it would be great to throw in some adult books as well.  Children's books can be very informative, and can most definitely even teach us grown-ups a thing or two, but I wanted to share some of my favorite "grown-up" history of science books with you.

The book pictured below is titled The Bonehunters Revenge: Dinosaurs, Greed, and the Greatest Scientific Feud of the Gilded Age. Written by David Rains Wallace, this book is accessible to ALL (adult) readers.  With humor and story-telling, this well-researched book takes a look at how the race for dinosaurs led to great discoveries and rushed inaccuracies. Dr. Kat already told us that the "Brontosaurus," the famous long-necked dinosaurs seen in the Land Before Time movie series is actually a complete fabrication!  The race between the two men featured in this book, Othniel C. Marsh, a college professor, and Edward Drinker Cope, a self-taught naturalist, led to large (get it!?) gaffes!  Because they were so focused on finding, assembling, and naming new dinosaurs, Mr. Marsh put together bones from different creatures and made it one: the Brontosaurus!

Another great history of science book is called The Invention of Air: A Story of Science, Faith, Revolution, and the Birth of America.  Written by Steven Johnson, this book follows a man named Joseph Priestley, who is credited with the discovery of oxygen.  The funny thing is (probably not to him), he never actually believed in his discovery!

Before we isolated oxygen, there was a theory of burning called PHLOGISTON.  Phlogiston was the element of fire found within things that burned.  For instance, a dry leaf had a lot of phlogiston in it, whereas a rock had none or very little.  It makes perfect sense!  Joseph Priestly held on to this theory until his death.  But he, himself, isolated the element that disproved it!  This book also describes the advances in our tools or measuring devices that Priestley and others created, as well as the dangerous world of defying the biggest think-tank of the day: the Church.

As we all embark on our search for children's science books, I just wanted to share two of my favorite history of science books.  These books will not only broaden your understanding of our modern scientific theories, but it will help solidify the concept of constructivism.  It is hard to miss the fact that we CREATE our own understanding of the world, and that it is constantly changing, once you delve into the world of scientific history.