The nature of physics and history: A cross-disciplinary inquiry

Abstract

We describe a cross-disciplinary course, called ’’Physics, History and Society,’’ which has as its theme: the nature of physics and history. The major goal of the course is to examine and compare physics and history in order to illuminate the implicit assumptions underlying the two disciplines. Specific historians such as the Americans Frederick Jackson Turner and Charles A. Beard, and specific physicists such as Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, and Isaac Newton are studied as representative of historical and physical inquiry. In addition to describing the materials, techniques, and aims of the course, we also present insights into physics, history, and teaching that we have gained by offering the course. In particular, we consider Newton’s ’’rules of reasoning in philosophy,’’ discuss why physicists and historians of science often disagree about physics, examine a problem of cross-disciplinary teaching, and evaluate the impact of the course.