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The Use of History in the Teaching of Astronomy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

Owen Gingerich*
Affiliation:
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, U.S.A.

Extract

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Three good reasons for using historical materials in teaching astronomy are:

  1. • The simplest concepts are introduced first in a natural sequence;

  2. • For non-science students, history can build onto other interests;

  3. • The historical perspective shows the changing and iterative nature of scientific explanatory structures.

Type
2. Astronomy and Culture
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990