This book synthesizes current literature and research on scientific inquiry and the nature of science in K-12 instruction. Its presentation of the distinctions and overlaps of inquiry and nature of science as instructional outcomes are unique in contemporary literature. Researchers and teachers will find the text interesting as it carefully explores the subtleties and challenges of designing curriculum and instruction for integrating inquiry and nature of science.

Conventional wisdom has it that the sciences, properly pursued, constitute a pure, value-free method of obtaining knowledge about the natural world. In light of the social and normative dimensions of many scientific debates, Helen Longino finds that general accounts of scientific methodology cannot support this common belief. Focusing on the notion of evidence, the author argues that a methodology powerful enough to account for theories of any scope and depth is incapable of ruling out the influence of social and cultural values in the very structuring of knowledge. The objectivity of scientific inquiry can nevertheless be maintained, she proposes, by understanding scientific inquiry as a social rather than an individual process. Seeking to open a dialogue between methodologists and social critics of the sciences, Longino develops this concept of "contextual empiricism" in an analysis of research programs that have drawn criticism from feminists. Examining theories of human evolution and of prenatal hormonal determination of "gender-role" behavior, of sex differences in cognition, and of sexual orientation, the author shows how assumptions laden with social values affect the description, presentation, and interpretation of data. In particular, Longino argues that research on the hormonal basis of "sex-differentiated behavior" involves assumptions not only about gender relations but also about human action and agency. She concludes with a discussion of the relation between science, values, and ideology, based on the work of Habermas, Foucault, Keller, and Haraway.

Reviewed in The Textbook Letter: 3-4/94.

In The Nature of Science, Frederick Aicken shows that science is neither a mere assortment of facts nor (always) common sense, but rather a tool for the solving of problems. It is not a specialized activity reserved exclusively for professional scientists but a part of human intelligence that benefits everyone. Science therefore plays a vital role in the way each of us thinks and behaves. Despite the traditional division of the cultures, scientific discovery has profoundly influenced literature and philosophy. Science is an indispensable guide in the search for truth yet it need not clash with these other guides nor with the spiritual side of our lives. Dividing the cultures leads to imbalance in our knowledge and to distortion in our view of human experience. Aicken's book demystifies science and places it in this larger context.

First published in 1931, this volume represents the culmination of twenty years’ of the study on the principles of science. Noticing a widespread craving for philosophical light at a time of scant such offerings, Morris R. Cohen aimed to demonstrate here the fundamental and ancient connection between nature and science - between hearts and minds – in an attempt to salve the developing mutual hostility between the two in the 1920s. The volume bears particular relation to George Santayana’s Life of Reason and Bertrand Russell’s Principles of Mathematics and explores areas including the character of the insurgence against reason and reason in the contexts of the natural and social sciences.

This book consolidates contemporary thinking and research efforts in teaching and learning about the nature of science in science education. The term ‘Nature of Science’ (NoS) has appeared in the science education literature for many decades. While there is still a controversy among science educators about what constitutes NoS, educators are unanimous in acknowledging the importance of this topic as well as the need to make it explicit in teaching science. The general consensus is that the nature of science is an intricate and multifaceted theme that requires continued scholarship. Recent analysis of research trends in science education indicates that investigation of the nature of science continues to be one of the most prevalent topics in academic publications. Advances in Nature of Science Research explores teaching and assessing the nature of science as a means of addressing and solving problems in conceptual change, developing positive attitudes toward science, promoting thinking habits, advancing inquiry skills and preparing citizens literate in science and technology. The book brings together prominent scholars in the field to share their cutting-edge knowledge about the place of the nature of science in science teaching and learning contexts. The chapters explore theoretical frameworks, new directions and changing practices from intervention studies, discourse analyses, classroom-based investigations, anthropological observations, and design-based research.