Editorial
We will be publishing Science on Television by Bienvenido León on 6th September 2007. The book is a clear and systematic guide to the narrative and rhetorical techniques used by science documentary filmmakers. The book will be priced at £18.50, but for direct orders we are offering a 20% discount.
Motivating Science, a collection of articles from the first five years of The Pantaneto Forum is available from bookshops. We are offering a 20% discount for direct orders.
The Interplay between the world and our ideas is brought into sharp focus in science, both experimental and theoretical. In “When the Scientist turns philosopher”, Friedel Weinert explores examples where there has been an impact of discoveries on our general conceptions of nature, and in particular, how our notions of causality and determinism have changed as a result of experimental discoveries.
When scientists compare theoretical predictions with experimental data they often treat divergences between the two in terms of the idea of approximation. According to Demitris Portides the idea of approximation “either depends upon or it piggy-backs on ‘idealisation’ “. In “The Relation between the Notions of Idealisation and Approximation in Science”, Portides fleshes out the notion of idealisation and explores the role of idealisation in scientific modelling.
In “Teaching and Research at the University”, Selma Pimenta describes results of research carried out, and still ongoing, on the roles of teacher and researcher at São Paulo University, Brazil. Her approach is integrative and in particular she is promoting the idea of the “reflective teacher” which results in an “intermingling of teaching and researching”.
On the theme of thinking and learning, Jonte Bernhard looks at the role of computer technology as a mediating tool. Citing Dewey: “Learning is learning to think”, Bernhard follows the experiential view, which sees “learning and thinking as developing a person’s (and a group’s) ability to handle familiar and novel situations in a powerful way. In “Thinking and learning through teaching” Bernhard describes his research over many years in physics and engineering education using computer based measurement technology.
Nigel Sanitt
Editor
ISSN 1741-1572
Contents
Articles
When the Scientist turns Philosopher, Friedel Weinert
The Relation between the Notions of Idealisation and Approximation in Science, Demetris Portides