Historical episodes in scientific discovery provide excellent sources for integrating the Nature of Science and personal contributions that can be motivating and engaging (HIPST, n.d., Höttecke, 2012). There are two levels of questions:

1. What information is available to support the construction of authentic learning experiences that integrate historical events and the Nature of Scientific Discovery?
2. What method can be used to give voice to those who are not known about or forgotten in a historical event?

Context

The episode chosen was the construction of the laboratory in the 1770s of Marie and Antoine Lavoisier and, in particular, a piece of equipment for handling water-soluble gases in enquiries about their chemical properties. The equipment was a large box, on legs, containing a shelf. Mercury was the liquid chosen for containing such gases. Antoine Lavoisier was, undoubtedly, highly accomplished as tax accountant, and in chemical enquiry. Marie Lavoisier was a remarkable illustrator, an excellent translator, and later, in chemical enquiry. However, it seems they needed to call upon the services of artisans to construct the laboratory. There are many valuable sources of evidence about these two and about the social issues during the French Revolution.

The essential and expert role of artisans in the construction of the laboratory has not been recorded, yet must have been important, given the limitations of craft knowledge of the Lavoisiers. In the spirit of giving these unknown artisans a place in the collaborative discovery process, I have used artistic licence, informed by evidence of their work at the time, to construct a fictional drama from the perspective of the two artisans involved, a carpenter and a stonemason, to produce a pneumatic trough to contain mercury for the subsequent experiments.

Additionally, the drama places in parallel historical information on The French Revolution, scientific discovery of the time, and ideas that were being created (philosophy). The paper also proposes a pedagogy for its use that engages all of the learners.

References

HIPST hipst.eled.auth.gr accessed 6th November 2015

Höttecke D (2012) HIPST—History and Philosophy in Science Teaching: A European Project Science & Education Volume 21, Issue 9, pp 1229-1232