Time for Science Education

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1 Time for Science Education How Teaching the History and Philosophy of Pendulum Motion can Contribute to Science Literacy Michael R. Matthews University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers New York, Boston, Dordrecht, London, Moscow

2 Contents Introduction xix Chapter 1. Learning about the Pendulum and Improving Science Education 1 The Pendulum in Western Science, Technology, and Culture 2 The Pendulum and Science Textbooks 3 Origins of the Cathedral Story 5 Knowledgeand Perception: A Problem with the Textbook Story 6 Problems with Science Education 7 Science and Liberal Education 10 Science Literacy 13 Chapter 2. Navigation and the Longitude Problem 19 Eratosthenes and Ancient Navigation 19 Determination of Latitude and the Puzzle of Longitude 21 The Puzzle of Longitude : 24 Portuguese Navigation and Exploration 25 Exploration of the African Coast 26 Medieval Navigation 28 The Treaty of Tordesillas, The Longitude Problem 33 Longitude Prizes 36 Timekeeping as the Solution to the Problem of Longitude > 39

3 xiv Time for Science Education Chapter 3. Ancient and Medieval Timekeeping 47 Sundials 48 Water Clocks 54 Mechanical Clocks 56 Monastic Timekeeping 58 The Coming of Equal and Secular Hours 59 Clock Components 60 The Spread of City Clocks 63 Accuracy of Mechanical Clocks 71 Chinese Water Clocks 72 Chapter 4. Galileo and the Pendulum Clock 77 The Medieval Pendulum 79 The Aristotelian Problematic 79 Medieval Impetus Theory 80 Nicole Oresme's Introduction of the Pendulum 83 Leonardo da Vinci's Pendulum Investigations 85 Galileo's Pulsilogium 88 Galileo and the Longitude Problem 89 Galileo's Proposal for a Pendulum Clock 91 Chapter 5. Galileo's Analysis of Pendulum Motion 95 Galileo at Pisa 95 Galileo's 1602 Letter to Guidobaldo del Monte 100 Galileo and Measurement 108 The Pendulum in Galileo's Later Work 110 Problems with Galileo's Pendulum Claims 114 Marin Mersenne 115 Giambattista Riccioli 117 Contemporary Reproductions 118 Chapter 6. Christiaan Huygens and the Pendulum Clock 121 Huygens' Refinement of Galileo's Pendulum Theory 124 In the Footsteps of Geometry 125

4 Contents And with the Assistance of Calculus 129 Huygen's Clock 133 Seagoing Tests for Longitude 136 Huygens' Proposal for an International Standard of Length 141 Jean Richer's Cayenne Voyage of Some Methodological Matters 146 From the Seconds Pendulum to the Meter: Some Political Matters 147 Pendulum Motion, Theories of Gravity and the Earth's Shape 150 Spring Balance Clocks 152 Chapter 7. Perfecting Mechanical Timekeeping and Solving the Longitude Problem 157 Robert Hooke 157 The Balance-Wheel Regulator 159 The Anchor Escapement 160 Theoretical Achievements 162 Hooke's Dispute with Huygens 164 On the Shape of the Earth and Variation in Gravity 168 Leibniz' Clockwork Proposal 170 John Harrison 170 Determining Local Time 176 The Horological Revolution 177 Chapter 8. The Pendulum in Newton's Physics 181 The Horological Background 183 The Metaphysical Background 184 Synthesis of Celestial and Terrestrial Mechanics 188 Matter, Mass, and Weight 193 The Pendulum and Conservation Laws 196 The Pendulum in Newtonian Physics 206 The Cradle Pendulum 207 The Ballistic Pendulum 208 Foucault's Pendulum 208 Stokes' Pendulum Experiments 212

5 xvi. Time for Science Education Chapter 9. Clocks and Culture: The Clock Analogy in Philosophy and Theology 215 The Mechanical World View 216 The Design Argument 219 Oresme and the Clockwork Universe 219 Newton's Argument with Leibniz about God's Involvement in a Clockwork Universe 221 God as Clockmaker 225 Poetry and the Design Argument 228 Metaphor in Science and in Education 231 Chapter 10. Science and Philosophy: Some Lessons from the History of Pendulum Motion 237 Science and Philosophy in the Study of Motion 240 The Natural Versus Violent Motion Distinction 241 Epistemology and the Analysis of Pendulum Motion 243 Galileo's Idealizations and the Beginning of Modern Science. 245 Idealization and Counter-evidence 246 Huygens and Falsificationist Methodology of Science 248 Observation, Theory, and Experiment 251 Real Versus Theoretical Objects 254 Objectivism 256 Scientific Laws 261 Data, Phenomena, and Theory 262 Research on Scientific Representation and Learning 265 Reductionist Accounts of Time 267 Aristotle's Reductionist Account of Time 267 Saint Augustine's Antireductionism 269 The Scientific Revolution's Undermining of Reductionism Newton and Mach on Absolute Time 272 Chapter 11. Teaching and Learning about Time and Pendulum Motion: Some Theoretical Considerations 275 Social and Personal Emergence of the Time Concept 275 Music and the Concept of Metrical Time 276 Aristotelian Empiricism and the Origin of Concepts 277

6 Contents Transmission or Construction of Concepts? A Problem for Constructivism 279 Natural versus Social Origin of Concepts 282 What Is a Misconception? 285 Idealization in Science and the Learning of Science 288 Piaget on Children's Understanding of Time 290 Chapter 12. Teaching and Learning about Time and Pendulum Motion: Some Pedagogical Considerations 293 Themes in Contemporary Science Education Reforms 294 Time Standards 297 The Pendulum and Simple Harmonic Motion 302 A Historical-Investigative Approach to Teaching Pendulum Motion 306 Reproducing Galileo's 1602 Law of Chords Experiment 307 Measuring Time in Junior High School 311 High School Investigations of Time and Pendulum Motion Opportunities Lost: The Pendulum in the United States National Science Education Standards 314 Cross-Disciplinary Teaching about Time and the Pendulum 317 Chapter 13. Science Education, Teacher Education, and Culture 321 Learning about the Nature of Science 321 Debate about the Nature of Science 323 Constructivism and the Nature of Science 327 A Modest Proposal 330 Teacher Education 332 History and Philosophy of Science in Teacher Education 333 Constructivism and Science Teacher Education 337 Teaching Literacy 339 Constructivist Language and Educational Realities 341 Philosophy of Education 343 Culture and Education 346 Conclusion '. 350 Appendix Some Significant Dates 353

7 xviii Time for Science Education Endnotes 357 References 381 Credits 419 Author Index 425 Subject Index 433

3.2 The Newtonian Clockwork Universe

3.2 The Newtonian Clockwork Universe 3.2 The Newtonian Clockwork Universe 61 3.2.1 The mechanical clock Feedback control in ancient water clocks Measuring the passage of time was first related to the apparent