Axtelle 1950 Science Education

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WHY TEACH SCIENCE?

GEORGE.

AXTELLE

N e w York L:niversity, Nezu Yo rk , Ne w I ork

A M S URE

that

I

have nothing new to

I

say to you ton igh t; that

I

am discussing

a

matter to which you have given much

thought. T h e reason for discussing it fur-

ther with you lies in the fact that

I

niay

come to the problem from

a

somewhat dif-

ferent background and hence may bring

some suggestions which may stimulate fur-

ther thinking on the problem.

I shall assume that you are primarily

concerned with the general educational

values of science education. I t is these

values which

1

wish to discuss.

I believe these values may be fully ex-

pressed in the term scientific temper. By

this I mean something more than is com-

monly associated with the expression

scientific attitud e. I mean all we associate

with that expression and in addition an

active component, a tendency to approach

life in an active experimental way, treating

problems and situations with both scien-

tific equipment and inquiry. I t also means

a

lively interest and curiosity in those mat-

ters which affect us as human beings and

as citizens of the m odern world.

It

short.

it means a generalized temper of curiosity

and inquiry regard ing all areas of life.

I am sure you ar e all deeply dissatisfied

with what we ar e now doing. Institutions

are very complex and difficult to change.

Educational institutions are

so

interlocked

with other institutions that they are prob-

ably the most resistant to change.

I

wish

I

could tell you how to change them in

order that you could effectively develop the

scientific temper in your students. T hi s

however must wait upon your own inven-

tiveness and continued pressure and prog-

ress. M y par t is to help clarify and define

the problem.

Paper presented at the annual banquet meet-

ing

of

the National Association for Research in

Science Teaching, Atlantic City, February

27,

1950, by Professor George E. Axtelle, Chairman,

Departments of History and Philosophy of Edu-

cation, New York University.

I

am sure you all know young people

of marked ability who have

a

certain in-

tellectual recalcitrance in the typical school

situation. T his does not spring from ob-

stinacy o r social maladjustmen t. I t springs

from an intellectual uncongeniality

of

the

school atmosphere. Schools ar e not organ -

ized to serve intellectual needs.

I

suppose this goes back to our mass

production society with the conception of

interchangeability of parts. W e have to

educate in multitudes and our population is

highly mobile. W e must organize the

school program in courses and give credits

and grades, in order that a course taken

in one school niay fit elsewhere. T hu s the

dem ands of certification and mobility com-

pel (or seem to) us to model the educa-

tional life after the industrial process.

s

a

result, ou r emphasis is upon memory an d

skill and specific content materials.

There is little place in all this for the

free roving spirit of curiosity and inquiry,

the essence of the scientific temper. T he re

is little in the school that permits the kind

of sp irit and atm osphere of scientists at

work. I n this connection, would call

your attention to an article in the January

issue of the Scientific

Moiithly

by Irving

Langmuir, Director of Research for Gen-

eral. Electric. H e therein described his

early years with the company and attributes

his success

to

the freedom and stimulation

given hini by the director. It is an ad-

mirable picture of the atmosphere of

inquiry.

I

would also like to quote fro m E instein s

intellectual autobiography in which he tells

of h is scientific train ing .

In this 'field. however, I soon learned to scent

out

that which was able

to

lead to fundamentals

and to turn aside from everything else, from the

multitude of things which clutter

up

the mind

and divert it from the essential. Th e hitch in

this was,

of

course, the fact that one had to cram

all this stuff into one's mind for the examinations,

whether one liked it or not. Th is coercion had

such a deterring effect (upon me) that after I

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APIUL, 9501 W H Y

TEACH

CIENCE 163

had passed the final examination,

I

found the con-

sideration of any scientific problems distasteful

to me for an entire year. In justice, I must add,

moreover, that in Switzerland we had to suffer

fa r less from under such coercion, which smothers

every truly scientific impulse, than is the case in

many another locality. Th ere was altogether

only two examinations aside from these, one

could do just about as one pleased. Th is was

especially the case if one had

a

friend, as did I

who attended lectures regularly and who worked

over their content conscientiously. T hi s gave

one freedom in the choice of p ursuits u ntil a few

months before the examination,

a

freedom which

I enjoyed to

a

grea t ex tent and liave gladly taken

into the bargain the bad conscience connected

with it as by far the lesser evil.

It

is, in fact,

nothing short of

a

miracle that the modem

methods of instruction have not yet strangled the

holy curiosity

of

inquiry fo r this delicate little

plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in

need of free dom ; without this it goes to wreck

and ruin without fail. It is a grave mistake to

think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching

can be promoted by means of coercion and the

sense of duty.

To

the contrary,

I

believe that it

would be possible to rob even a healthy beast of

prey of its voraciousness, if it were possible,

with the aid oi

a

whip, to force the beast

to

devour continuously, even when not hungry,

especially if the food, handed out under such

coercion, were to be selected accordingly. .

I wish you would reread his remarks.

Note the emphasis he placed upon stimu-

lation and freedom as the primary needs

of the sp irit of cur iosity and inquiry . Also ,

note the effects of coercion and sense of

duty upon his scientific interests. W ho can

speak to us with greater autho rity?

H e coiifirnis my ow n experience and my

experience with many able young minds.

I

know a young lad whose educational per-

formance has been bi-modal, a few As

and many Cs and

Ds.

He developed

an interest in photography. H e spent

countless hours wit+ his equipment and

materials learning how to use them by very

careful research methods.

I

have studied

his methodology and have been amazed at

the soundness and accuracy of his research

techniques. all of which he developed inde-

pendently. H e not only learned much of

the physics, chemistry, and mathematics of

photography but carried his research

Paul A Schilpp, Albert Einstein: Philoso-

pher Scientist. Library of Living Philohophers.

P. 17

Evanston, 1949

methodology into the artistic-esthetic and

th e hum an aspects. M any fields of learn-

ing were cultivated yet without specializa-

tion. Th ey formed an organic whole. Bu t

most important was his discovery and

cultivation o f the scientific tem per. So

precious was this to him that he refused

to entertain the idea of photography

as

a

profession fearing that occupational de-

mands would destroy the spirit he

so

prized.

I

have discussed this instance at length

because I think it illustrates the points

Einstein makes and also because

it

sug-

gests the values implicit in hobbies and

active interests of all sorts. It suggests

that here is where we should look rather

than to the organized subject materials

which are

so

much more obvious and corii-

pelling for institutional reasons. W e must

capture and stimulate these active interests,

and give them freedom. to rove as they will

knowing that the spirit bloweth where

it

listeth and that we cannot capture or

coerce it by routine and memory.

I

have suggested that the interest in

photography avoided the specialized ap-

proach to the sciences. but rather organ-

ized scientific resources into an organic

whole. T his leads to two fur the r points.

The first is the problem of specialization

an d the seco nd th at of social responsibility

and orientation of the sciences.

W e must acknowledge that the great

power of the sciences lies in specialization,

in the progressive analysis

of

a field into

ever more manageable parts. W e must

acknowledge at the same time that speciali-

zation of itself h as serio us evils. I n the

first place it means loss of perspective,

failure to understand the whole

of

which

specializations ar e parts. Un less the

specialization can be grasped in the con-

text of the whole, its own meaning and

significance is lost. T h e whole is seen as

little more than the part.

This

leads even-

tually to sterility and social incompetences.

No w wh at is th is whole of which speciali-

zations are pa rts ? T he whole is nothing


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164

SCIENCE

DUCATION

[VOL.

4, No.

less than the whole of nature and culture. Eac h element of tha t stream upsets the

To

pursue a specialization apart from this

organ ic balance of the syscepl. Yet with-

whole is like studying the human brain

out cessation they pour in.

Is

it any w on-

removed from the organism to which it de r we are a neurotic civilization?

Tt

belongs. M uch of the intellectual a nd spe aks volumes for the hardih ood of man

moral difficulties of our time is due to the and culture that they have stood up to this

kind of specialization which trea ts parts a s

though they were independent wholes.

The scientific temper whose roots are in

active interests and hobbies avoids this

danger. W hile it may lead to specialized

interests, it does

so

out of an organic life

context which preserves appropriate per-

spective. I t also insures that th e frui ts of

specialization will enrich the practical and

the social.

Finally, I wish to emphasize the tragic

dichotomy of the Natura l and the H um an

Sciences. T his is but the ma jor instance

of the vice of sheer specialization. Fa ilin g

to not e that man, culture and n ature a re a

single field from which inquiry starts, the

several sciences lose their moral-human

character and become dangerous and

powerful weapons in the hands of children.

Science is then conceived as without

morality, if not a threa t to h um an life itself.

Is

this not a paradox, that the greatest

problem solving instrument of man should

succeed in creating ever more difficult

problems, but he

of

no avail in attacking

the important problems. that is the moral-

social problem s of associated living

?

May

I

remind

you

of what you are only

too well aware: that one can study an

organism only in its environments. I

suspect that Ecology will become not

merely the most important of the biological

sciences, but that

it

will become even more

importantly assimilated into the very

method of science. W e know that when a

biological environment

is

disturbed by the

introduction

of

an alien organism the bal-

ance of nature is upset and one can never

tell what all consequences may ensue.

The same principle holds for human life

and culture. Now the sciences and tech-

nology have heen pouring an ever greater

strea m of influence into wes tern cu lture.

fact so nobly.

Now what is the implication of this?

First, it must be apparent that the intro-

duction

of

new technology into the culture

disturbs it in u.ntold ways. Second, science,

if

i t

is

to perform a moral function, must

operate ecologically in human affairs. T h a t

is,

the resources of the various sciences

must be brought to a focus simultaneously

in dealing with social situations. I n other

words, no specialized skience by itself is

ever competent to deal with a practical

situation. On ly when the frill resources

of the sciences are employed can we be

assured of a progressive solution of hum an

problems. Oth erwis e the application of

the specialized sciences will but further

disorganize the society.

This suggests further that the sciences,

both natural and social, should be taught in

terms of human problems; when this

is

done, all will become both natural and

human.

To

return finally to the scientific

tem pe r: T h e cultivation of the scientific

temper by stimulating and freeing active

interests, curiosity, and inquiry may de-

velop a citizenry and

a

society which can

use its scientific resources creatively and

responsibly.

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Axtelle 1950 Science Education