ANALOGIAS, HIPÓTESES E CÁLCULOS: AS DIFERENTES FORMAS DE PENSAR A LUZ NA PRIMEIRA METADE DO SÉCULO XIX
Nature of Science (NOS); History and Philosophy of Science (HPS); Nature of Light.
This work is grounded in the context of researches in the area of teaching of sciences, which defend that besides a knowledge in sciences, a student must have a knowledge about sciences, that is, a knowledge on the Nature of Science (NOS). Particularly, the use of History and Philosophy of Science (HPS) has been indicated as a didactic strategy which can bring benefits in various levels, either to the contextualization of the teaching of sciences or a comprehension of aspects of NOS, or even as a possibility of training critical citizens. That way, we understand that the HPS, especially by using historical episodes, can be used as a potential resource for the discussion of aspects of NOS in the teaching of sciences. Seen in these terms, we analyzed studies on the Nature of Light in the first half of century XIX, seeking to comprehend how the work of researchers who were involved in such discussions may have been influenced by epistemological assumptions about the sciences predominant at that time, focusing on the analysis of this influence in the Thomas Young and Augustin Fresnel’s researches. For that matter, primary and secondary sources were analyzed, aiming at comprehending the historical context and its conceptual, epistemological and philosophical aspects. The complexity involved in the debates Undulatory Theory of Light versus Corpuscular Theory of Light, during the studied time, showed to be very substantial in the point of view of the discussion of aspects of the NOS. The analysis of the historical material highlighted the possibility of we work several themes of the NOS, with the emphasis on the several aspects involved in the development of the scientific knowledge – political, scientific and epistemological. We expect that the interface between historical episode and themes of the NOS, built up in this work, can contribute for the discussion between the aspects of the NOS in the teaching of physics, especially, the training courses of Physics teachers. In this respect, it is intended to build, in the continuity of the work, a historical narrative (“story”) that can be used in initial and continuing training of teachers.