Historical Scientific Instruments in Contemporary Education

These essays draw on recent and versatile work by museum staff, science educators, and teachers, showing what can be done with historical scientific instruments or replicas. Varied audiences - with members just like you - can be made aware of exciting aspects of history, observation, problem-solving, restoration, and scientific understanding, by the projects outlined here by professional practitioners. These interdisciplinary case studies, ranging from the cinematic to the hands-on, show how inspiration concerning science and the past can give intellectual pleasure as well as authentic learning to new participants, who might include people like you: students, teachers, curators, and the interested and engaged public.

Contributors are Dominique Bernard, Paolo Brenni, Roland Carchon, Elizabeth Cavicchi, Stéphane Fischer, Peter Heering, J.W. Huisman, Françoise Khantine-Langlois, Alistair M. Kwan, Janet Laidla, Pierre Lauginie, Panagiotis Lazos, Pietro Milici, Flora Paparou, Frédérique Plantevin, Julie Priser, Alfonso San-Miguel, Danny Segers, Constantine (Kostas) Skordoulis, Trienke M. van der Spek, Constantina Stefanidou, and Giorgio Strano.

Elizabeth Cavicchi completed a doctor of education (EdD) degree at Harvard University; master's degrees at Harvard, Boston University and MIT; undergraduate degrees at MIT. She has written and presented internationally on explorations interweaving history, science phenomena, teaching and learning. At MIT’s Edgerton Center, Cavicchi encourages learners to be explorers. Her seminars provide direct experiences with observation, experiment, instruments, history and social justice.

Peter Heering is professor of physics and its didactics at the Europa-Universität Flensburg, Germany. His research focuses on the history of physics, especially experimental practice, which he investigates using the replication method, the use of historical content in science education, and the historical development of teaching experiments in physics education.