Abstract
Recent research in science education has recognized the importance of history and philosophy of science. This study has the following objectives:(a) To show how the importance of history of chemistry has been recognized in theclassroom, starting from the 1920s to the present; (b) How criteria based on history andphilosophy of science can be used to evaluate presentation of atomic structure in generalchemistry textbooks; (c) Comparison of the new (1970–1992) and old textbooks (1929–1967)with respect to the presentation of atomic structure. Results obtained show thatmost of the new and old textbooks not only ignore the history and philosophy of sciencebut also present experimental findings as a `rhetoric of conclusions'. It isconcluded that such presentations are not conducive towards a better understanding of scientificprogress. It is suggested that history and philosophy of science can be introduced in theclassroom not necessarily through formal courses in the history of chemistry or commentsand anecdotes, but rather by incorporating the `heuristic principles' that guided thescientists to elaborate their theories.
Published Version
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