Opinion
​In order to make better educational use of the wide geographical and disciplinary reach of this HPS&ST Newsletter, invitations are extended for readers to contribute opinion pieces about any aspect of the past, present or future of HPS&ST studies. ​Such pieces can be sent direct to editor. Ideally they might be pieces that are already on the web, in which case a few sentences introduction, with link to web site can be sent.  If not on the web they will be placed there with a link.
  • H. Holden Thorp,  George Washington University, US
Teach Philosophy of Science*
Text available HERE
*This Editorial and Comment originally appeared in Science April 2024, vol.384 no. 6692
  • Gordon Gillespie, Business Consultant, Germany 
Beyond Causality: The Contribution of Mathematics to Understanding the Connection between Mind and Nature*
Text available HERE
This essay first appeared in Aeon magazine 14 February 2025. Permission to republish is gratefully acknowledged.
  • Art Hobson, Professor Emeritus of Physics, University of Arkansas, USA
Global warming: Scientific literacy must be part of the solution 
Text available HERE
  • Mario Hubert, Philosophy, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich.
​The nature of natural laws*​
Text available HERE
*This essay originally appeared in Aeon Magazine, 15 November 2024
  •  John Raine, Auckland University of Technology
Imposed Ideologies and the Future of New Zealand Universities​
Text available HERE
  •  Céline Henne, Education,  Philosophy Department, University of Bologna
What is Knowledge? Realist vs Pragmatist Epistemology*
Text available HERE
*This essay originally appeared in Aeon Magazine, 29 July 2024
  •  ÖZGÜR TAŞKIN, Education, Ondokuzmayıs University, Türkiye.
The Politics and Philosophy of a New Theoretical Framework in Evolution Education
Text available HERE
  •  Ismo T. Koponen, University of Helsinki, Department of Physics
Does Agential Realism have quantum physical insights or is it just confused
thinking and obscurantist writing?*
Text available HERE
*Originally : NorDiNa – (Nordic Studies in Science Education), Vol. 20 No. 1 (2024) pp 44-56.
  •  Jim Baggott, freelance science writer
Quantum dialectics: When quantum mechanics posed a threat to the Marxist doctrine of materialism, communist physicists sought to reconcile the two*
Text available HERE
*This essay appeared in Aeon Magazine 23 May 2024. 
  •  Nicholas Maxwell, Science & Technology Studies Dept., University College, London. 
Is Bad Philosophy Responsible for the Climate Crisis?
Text available HERE
  •  David Merritt, formerly Rochester Institute of Technology
Touching Reality: Philosophical Lessons from Contemporary Cosmology
Text available HERE
  •  Michael G. Titelbaum, Philosophy, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Rationality without Absolutes: How to Think like a Bayesian*
Text available HERE
​*Reproduced with permission from Aeon Magazine. 
  •  Ilya Kasavin, Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and Philosophy Department, Lobachevsky University, Russia
The Social Philosophy of Science: Its Russian Sources
Text available HERE
  •   Michael R. Matthews, School of Education, University of New South Wales
Science and Pseudoscience: Reaffirming the Distinction
Text available HERE
  •   Ashley Graham Kennedy, Florida Atlantic University  
Why trust the experts?
Text available HERE
  •   Keith M. Parsons, Philosophy, University of Houston-Clear Lake, Texas
Thomas Kuhn: Incommensurability and the Resources of Reason
Text available HERE
  •   Chris Enke, Chemistry, University of New Mexico 
The Science We Trust
Text available HERE
  •   David Bakhurst, Philosophy Department, Queen’s University, Canada
Education: Philosophy’s Blindspot*
Text available HERE
*Reproduced with permission from Aeon Magazine. 
  • James Wells, Physics, University of Michigan 
Is a Grand Theory of Everything Finally within Reach?
Text available HERE
  • Michael J. Reiss, and Michael Ruse  
The New Biology: A Battle between Mechanism and Organicism
Text available HERE
  • Vladimir Kuznetsov , H. S. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Philosophy of Science in Ukraine: A Personal Story
Text available HERE
  • Elizabeth Rata, Peter Schwerdtfeger , David Lilis, and Raymond Richards
Open Letter to New Zealand Prime Minister Opposing the Inclusion of Mātauranga Māori as Science in the School Curriculum
Text available HERE
  •  George Reisch and Adam Tamas Tuboly
Philipp Frank: The Humane Face of Logical Positivism
Text available HERE
  •  Daniel Everett, trustee professor of cognitive sciences, Bentley University in Massachusetts. 
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914): The American Aristotle?*
Text available HERE
*Reproduced with permission from Aeon Magazine.  Originally, 15 August 2021
  •  Wonyong Park, University of Southampton 
How Science Education helps Learning from Disasters: Grenfell and Sewol
Text available HERE

  •  Crispin Sartwell, Associate professor of philosophy at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania
Truth is Real
Text available HERE

  • Ibrahim Halloun , Professor of Physics and Education,Lebanese University, Lebanon
 Systemic Cognition and Education
Text available HERE

  •  Tom McLeish, Professor of Natural Philosophy, Department of Physics, University of York.
Creativity and Constraint in Science and the Arts
Text available HERE

  • Peter Garik , Physics & Education, Boston University
  Gerald Holton’s Contribution to Physics Education
Text available HERE

  • Michael R. Matthews,  School of Education, UNSW, Sydney, Australia
  Thomas Kuhn and Science Education: A Troubled Connection
Text available HERE

  • Magdalena Kersting, Education Department, University of Oslo
 Following in the Footsteps of Einstein: Modernising Physics Education Using History and Philosophy of Science
Text available HERE
  • Michael R. Matthews,  School of Education, UNSW, Sydney, Australia
  Indigenous Science and the Science Curriculum: The New Zealand Debate
Text available HERE

  • Paul Alstein (Utrecht Univristersity), Magdalena Kersting (University of Oslo), Sam Rijken (Erasmus University Rotterdam), & Lukas Verburgt (Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study
From conceptual change to scientific imagination: An interdisciplinary workshop at the crossroads of HPS and science education research
Text available HERE

  • Adrian Bardon, Wake Forest University Professor of Philosophy, Wake Forest University
Coronavirus responses highlight how humans are hardwired to dismiss facts that don’t fit their worldview
Text available HERE
  • James Franklin, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of New South Wales​
Mathematics as a science of the real world: Aristotelian realist philosophy of mathematics
Text available HERE
  • Denis Dutton, Professor of Philosophy, editor of the Arts & Letters Daily.​
Language Crimes: A Lesson in How Not to Write, Courtesy of the Professoriate
Text available HERE
  • Victor Moberger, Stockholm University, Sweden
Pseudophilosophy encourages confused, selfindulgent thinking ​
Text available HERE
  • Bradley E. Alger, Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland School of Medicine
The Usefulness of Popper: A Scientist’s Response to Professor Charlotte Sleigh
Text available HERE
  • Alan Lightman, MIT
Where Science and Miracles Meet
Text available HERE
  • Jeremy Shearmur, Emeritus Fellow, Australian National University
Abusing Popper
Text available HERE
  • Charlotte Sleigh, Editor of the British Journal for the History of Science 
The Abuses of Popper*
Text available HERE
*Originally published in Aeon Magazine, 16 February 2021
  • Igal Galili, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
The Beauty and Pleasure of Understanding
text available HERE
  • Hugh Aldersey-Williams, Author and Journalist. Studied Natural Sciences at University of Cambridge, UK. 
Huygens, senior and junior: How a father’s mere curiosity about nature evolved during the Dutch Golden Age into the son’s focused scientific enquiry*
text available HERE
*Originally published at Aeon on 8 January 2021
  • Art Hobson, Professor Emeritus of Physics,  University of Arkansas, USA  
Big History: We All Need to Know
text available HERE
  • Steven French, Professor of the Philosophy of Science, University of Leeds.  
Theories in History and in Practice
text available HERE
  • Ibrahim A. Halloun, H Institute, Lebanon.  
Time to heed the alarm raised 35 years ago over a continuing failure in science learning 
text available HERE
  • Robert Nola, Philosophy Department, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Pessimistic Humanism and Existential Threats
text available HERE
  • Breno Arsioli Moura, Center of Natural Sciences and Humanities, Federal University of ABC, Santo André, Brazil 
Franklin and the kit: What can we learn from this episode?
text available HERE
  • Nathan Willig Lima & Matheus Monteiro Nascimento, Physics Department, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
A new challenge in the environmental scenario: Will Science Education defeat PostTruth?
text available HERE
  • Henk W. de Regt,  Institute for Science in Society, Radboud University, The Netherlands
Science and the Desire to Understand
text available HERE
  • Robert Frodeman* & Evelyn Brister**
* Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga.
** Associate Professor of Philosophy at Rochester Institute of Technology 
The Impact of Philosophy – And the Philosophy of Impact
text available HERE
  • Norman Lederman, Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, Illinois
Replicable, Reproducible, and Generalisable: Implications of Scientific Hallmarks for Research in Education
         and
  • Keith S. Taber, Professor of Science Education, University of Cambridge, UK
Is Reproducibility a Realistic Norm for Scientific Research into Teaching?
texts available HERE

Note: These OpEds are in dialogue with Bradley E. Alger's "Is Reproducibility a Crisis for Science?" available HERE
  • Frederick Grinnell, Department of Cell Biology, Ethics in Science and Medicine Program, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Discovery in the Everyday Practice of Science: Abduction and the Logic of Unintended Experiments
​Text available HERE
  • Bradley E. Alger, Professor Emeritus, Department of Physiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine
 Is Reproducibility a Crisis for Science?
​Text available HERE
  • Tom McLeish, Department of Physics, University of York
Science + Religion
​Text available HERE
  • Michael Corballis*, Elizabeth Rata,**  and Robert Nola***
*University of Auckland, Emeritus Professor in Psychology
**University of Auckland, Director of Knowledge in Education Research Unit
***University of Auckland, Emeritus Professor in Philosophy
 The Defence of Science and the Status of Māori Knowledge
Text available HERE
  • Maurice Finocchiaro, Philosophy Department, University of Nevada-Las Vegas 
Galileo’s Legacy: Avoiding the Myths and Muddles 
Text available HERE
  • Michael R. Matthews, School of Education, University of New South Wales
Feng Shui: Philosophical Appraisal and Educational Opportunity
Text available HERE
  • Daniel J. Kennefick, Physics Department, University of Arkansas, USA
The Problem of Scientific Bias: The 1919 Astronomical Confirmation of Einstein’s Theory 
Text available HERE
  • Ron Good, Professor Emeritus, Louisiana State University
The Two Darwins: Erasmus and Charles on Evolution
Text available HERE
  • Nicholas Maxwell, Philosophy Department, University College London
The Metaphysics of Science and Aim-Oriented Empiricism
Text available HERE
  • Lucie Laplane, Paolo Mantovani, Ralph Adolphs, Hasok Chang, Alberto
    Mantovani, Margaret McFall-Ngai, Carlo Rovelli, Elliott Sober, and Thomas
    Pradeu
​Why Science Needs Philosophy*
Text available HERE
*Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, March 5, 2019 116 (10) 3948-3952
  • Thomas J.J. McCloughlin, School of STEM Education, Innovation & Global Studies, Dublin , Ireland
Beware the Greeks: Sources for the History of Gravity in Science Teaching            
Text available HERE 
  • Bettina Bussmann, Philosophy Department, University of Salzburg, Austria & Mario Kötter, Center for Biology Education at the WWU, Muenster, Germany
Between Scientism and Relativism: Epistemic Competence as an Important Aim in Science and Philosophy Education
 Text available HERE 
  • Robin Attfield, Philosophy Department, Cardiff University, UK
Climate Change and Philosophy
Text available HERE
  • Dhyaneswaran Palanichamy & Bruce V. Lewenstein,  School of Biology, Cornell University, USA 
​​Teaching research integrity – Using history and philosophy of science to introduce ideas about the ambiguity of research practice
Text available HERE
  • Frederick Grinnell, Department of Cell Biology, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Teaching research integrity – Using history and philosophy of science to introduce ideas about the ambiguity of research practice
Text available HERE
  • Aaron E. Carroll, Indiana University School of Medicine, USA
Creeping Bias in Research: Negative Results Are Glossed Over*
Text available HERE
*Originally published in New York Times, 24 September 2018​
  • Michael R. Matthews, School of Education, University of New South Wales
Mario Bunge’s 99th Birthday
​Text available HERE​  
  • Cormac O'Raifeartaigh, Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland
History of Science in Schools
Text available HERE
  • ​Hugh Lacey, Swarthmore College & University of São Paulo
Appropriate Roles for Ethical and Social Values in Scientific Activity
Text available HERE
  • ​Gerald Holton, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and Professor of the history  of science, emeritus, Harvard University
Tracing Tom Kuhn’s Evolution: A Personal Perspective
Text available HERE    
  • Monica H. Green, History Department, Arizona State University
On Learning How to Teach the Black Death
​Text available HERE
  • Steven Pinker, Harvard University
The Intellectual War on Science: It’s wreaking havoc in universities and jeopardizing the progress of research
Text available HERE
  • ​Michael Ruse, Philosophy Department, Florida State University
Does Life Have Meaning? Or is it Self-Deception at Best and Terrifyingly Absurd at Worst?
Text available HERE
  • Mario Bunge, Philosophy Department, McGill University, Montreal
In Defense of Scientism* 
​Text available HERE
*Based on the article in Free Inquiry Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 24-31, 2015.
  • Susan Haack, Philosophy and Law Departments, University of Miami
 The Future of Philosophy, the Seduction of Scientism
 Text available  HERE
  • Nicholas Maxwell, Philosophy Department, University College London
​What’s Wrong with HPS and What Needs be Done to Put it Right?
Text available HERE
  • Heinz W. Droste, sociologist, writer and journalist
An Interview with Mario Bunge 
Text available HERE
  • ​Nicholas Maxwell, Philosophy Department, University College London
The Crisis of Our Times, and What to Do about It
Text available  HERE​
  • Eric Scerri, Dept. of Chemistry, UCLA, USA
Bringing Science Down to Earth*​           
Text available  HERE
*Originally published in The Los Angeles Times on February 20th, 2017.
  • Robert Nola, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Auckland​
Fake News in the Post-Truth World*              
Text available  HERE
 * Originally published in The New Zealand Herald on December 26, 2016.
  • Adam Piovarchy, PhD Candidate, University of Sydney & Laura D'Olimpio,  University of Notre Dame, Australia​                
Want to improve NAPLAN scores? Teach children philosophy
Text available  HERE
  • Matthew Stanley, New York University ​
Why Should Physicists Study History?     
Text available HERE     
Source: Physics Today (2016, vol.69, no.7)
  • Philip. A. Sullivan, Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto.  ​
Mathematics Teaching in Ontario’s Public Schools                 
Text available HERE                       
  • Gregory Radick, University of Leeds​
Teach students the biology of their time: An experiment in genetics education reveals how Mendel’s legacy holds back the teaching of science
​Text available HERE
(Thanks to Springer Nature for allowing wider distribution of this article and link.)