Book to Note

David Kaiser, editor, Pedagogy and the Practice of Science: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2005. vii + 426 pp. $45.

Reviewed by Audra J. Wolfe

Although countless authors have explored the history of science education, the education of scientists has attracted far less attention. The 14 essays in this well-edited collection focus on the under-appreciated role of pedagogy in shaping scientists’ identities. At heart, many historians of science are interested in the fundamental question of how a student becomes a scientist. The contributors’ focus on engineering and the physical sciences does not limit the volume’s impact; instead, key experiences emerge from case studies that share much in common. Chemical Heritage’s readers will be particularly interested in the chapters on the Beilstein Handbuch, probe microscopy, French chemistry textbooks, and the introduction of molecular orbital theory, but the entire volume deserves a look.