Authors: Erik L Peterson
Publish Date: 2011/06/21
Volume: 21, Issue: 7, Pages: 1045-1049
Abstract
“Why study scientific ideas that we know to be wrong” It’s a question I am asked every time I teach a history of science course to undergrads majoring in a natural science Despite an urge to fling a witty Ricky Gervais style retort at any asker of this question I usually respond with an arched eyebrow and suitably mysterious counterquestion “How do you know we’re right” My response is not as flippant as it might seem especially as we do spend a fair portion of the course examining scientific epistemology Nevertheless many of my students chuckle at my rejoinder “How do we know that we’re right” they might respond “Because everyoneknows that our scientists know the right answers to certain fundamental questions about the world” Whether their imagined response is circular is beside the point The implications of their attitude for the material we cover in my history of science course are straightforward if I pressed them they would probably admit that it is perfectly
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