A review of Catherine Milne’s book, The Invention of Science

Abstract

Catherine Milne's book, The Invention of Science, recounts the history of science (mainly Eurocentric) from cross-cultural, historical and philosophical worldviews. Scientists, science educators, and teachers would find this an interesting book, not only for themselves but also for those with whom they interact. Most accounts are of the great men in science with some to women in science, including reference to the exclusion of women from science. Milne provides thought-provoking activities to use in the classroom, like asking students to write the processes that occur when sugar dissolves in hot tea, with students including the three components of causal explanation. She also encourages teachers to use narratives to help students learn the context of discovery in science. In a comparison of analogical, deductive, inductive and abductive reasoning, she encourages teachers to pay attention to dialogical arguments. Book review author predicts that Milne's book will fit well with the nation's next generation science standards, still in development form. Milne succeeded in her goal ''to combine aspects of the philosophy and history; not just to focus on specific scientific ideas but to provide a hint of the complex relationship between place and history, space and time, in the development of Eurocentric science.''