Around the World in 76 Chapters: A Guided Tour of Research in History, Philosophy and Science Teaching

Abstract

The Handbook edited by Michael R. Matthews is quite welcome in the domain of science education (SE). It must be emphasized that this is not one more handbook on the subject; as a matter of fact, it is quite unique. As previous works edited by Matthews (1989, 1991, 1998, 2009) and Matthews et al. (2001, 2005), it has a well-established perspective on the role of history and philosophy of science in science teaching (HPS&ST). The viewpoints on science education are presented in three volumes grouped into four sections: Pedagogical Studies, Theoretical Studies, Regional Studies and Biographical Studies. Having authors from 30 countries, many of which are not Anglophone, implied a sizeable challenge. It was confronted by a careful editing strategy and processes that required deploying an army of specialized reviewers (more than 300) and copyeditors to allow for the final presentation of the chapters. It must be noted that authors and reviewers, as Matthews points out in the ‘‘Introduction,’’ are part of the large and diverse community that has come together through the International History, Philosophy and Science Teaching (IHPST) Group meetings. Most of the group members have contributed to Springer’s Science & Education journal, wisely edited by Matthews for 25 years. The IHPST group is a global community, which is reflected in the countries represented by 125 authors coming mainly from Australasia, Europe, North America (including Canada and Mexico), South America as well as the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Recent IHPST conferences in Asia (Korea and Taiwan) and South America (Brazil, Argentina and Chile) are enabling the growth and diffusion of research and educational experiences in this field.