•  86
    This book presents analyses of philosophical topics of importance to biology education. It is intended foremost for biology educators and teachers, and aims to show how philosophy of science in general, and philosophy of biology in particular, ...
  •  61
    Uncertainty: how it makes science advance
    Oxford University Press. 2019.
    Scientific knowledge is the most solid and robust kind of knowledge that humans have because of its inherent self-correcting character. Nevertheless, anti-evolutionists, climate denialists, and anti-vaxxers, among others, question some of the best-established scientific findings, making claims unsupported by empirical evidence. A common aspect of these claims is reference to the uncertainties of science concerning evolution, climate change, vaccination, and so on. This is inaccurate: whereas the…Read more
  •  49
    A large body of work in science education indicates that evolution is one of the least understood and accepted scientific theories. Although scholarship from the history and philosophy of science (HPS) has shed light on many conceptual and pedagogical issues in evolution education, HPS-informed studies of evolution education are also characterized by conceptual weaknesses. In this chapter, we critically review such studies and find that some work lacks historically accurate characterizations of …Read more
  •  32
    Mendel and the Path to Genetics: Portraying Science as a Social Process
    Science & Education 22 (2): 293-324. 2013.
    Textbook descriptions of the foundations of Genetics give the impression that besides Mendel’s no other research on heredity took place during the nineteenth century. However, the publication of the Origin of Species in 1859, and the criticism that it received, placed the study of heredity at the centre of biological thought. Consequently, Herbert Spencer, Charles Darwin himself, Francis Galton, William Keith Brooks, Carl von Nägeli, August Weismann, and Hugo de Vries attempted to develop theori…Read more
  •  31
    Reconsidering the Meaning of Concepts in Biology: Why Distinctions Are So Important
    with Florian Stern
    Bioessays 40 (11): 1800148. 2018.
    Concepts have a central and important place in science, therefore, it is important that their meanings are always made clear. However, such clarity does not always exist, even in the case of such fundamental biological concepts as “gene” and “adaptation.” A quick look at textbooks reveals that different meanings may be attributed to the same concept, even within the same textbook, without explicitly discussing the differences of those meanings. This can be misleading, and mask important conceptu…Read more
  •  26
    Charles Darwin and Evolution: Illustrating Human Aspects of Science (review)
    with William F. McComas
    Science & Education 19 (6-8): 637-654. 2010.
    Recently, the nature of science (NOS) has become recognized as an important element within the K-12 science curriculum. Despite differences in the ultimate lists of recommended aspects, a consensus is emerging on what specific NOS elements should be the focus of science instruction and inform textbook writers and curriculum developers. In this article, we suggest a contextualized, explicit approach addressing one core NOS aspect: the human aspects of science that include the domains of creativit…Read more
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    Understanding Evolution
    Cambridge University Press. 2014.
    Current books on evolutionary theory all seem to take for granted the fact that students find evolution easy to understand when actually, from a psychological perspective, it is a rather counterintuitive idea. Evolutionary theory, like all scientific theories, is a means to understanding the natural world. Understanding Evolution is intended for undergraduate students in the life sciences, biology teachers or anyone wanting a basic introduction to evolutionary theory. Covering core concepts and …Read more
  •  24
    Teaching About Adaptation: Why Evolutionary History Matters (review)
    Science & Education 22 (2): 173-188. 2013.
    Adaptation is one of the central concepts in evolutionary theory, which nonetheless has been given different definitions. Some scholars support a historical definition of adaptation, considering it as a trait that is the outcome of natural selection, whereas others support an ahistorical definition, considering it as a trait that contributes to the survival and reproduction of its possessors. Finally, adaptation has been defined as a process, as well. Consequently, two questions arise: the first…Read more
  •  20
    When I was an undergraduate student in biology, about twenty years ago, developmental biology was relatively absent in my curriculum. There were some elements of developmental biology in the zoology and botany courses, but one had to take two elective courses, Embryology and Molecular Biology of Development, in order to learn more. Fortunately, curricula have changed nowadays and for good reasons. The study of developmental processes is crucial for our understanding of life, perhaps more than ev…Read more
  •  16
    Teaching about Nature of Science (hereafter NOS) has been considered an important element of science education for the past 20 years, at least at the academic level—what teachers actually teach in classrooms is, unfortunately, another story. Generally speaking, science educators have come to a consensus that the history and philosophy of science (hereafter HPS) can provide useful insights, under certain conditions, for this purpose. This does not mean that any HPS teaching necessarily contribute…Read more
  •  16
    Mendelian Genetics as a Platform for Teaching About Nature of Science and Scientific Inquiry: The Value of Textbooks
    with Megan F. Campanile and Norman G. Lederman
    Science & Education 24 (1-2): 205-225. 2015.
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    Philosophy of Science for Biologists (edited book)
    with Tobias Uller
    Cambridge University Press. 2019.
    Biologists rely on theories, apply models and construct explanations, but rarely reflect on their nature and structure. This book introduces key topics in philosophy of science to provide the required philosophical background for this kind of reflection, which is an important part of all aspects of research and communication in biology. It concisely and accessibly addresses fundamental questions such as: Why should biologists care about philosophy of science? How do concepts contribute to scient…Read more
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    Making Sense of Genes
    Cambridge University Press. 2017.
    What are genes? What do genes do? These seemingly simple questions are in fact challenging to answer accurately. As a result, there are widespread misunderstandings and over-simplistic answers, which lead to common conceptions widely portrayed in the media, such as the existence of a gene 'for' a particular characteristic or disease. In reality, the DNA we inherit interacts continuously with the environment and functions differently as we age. What our parents hand down to us is just the beginni…Read more
  •  14
    An accessible introduction to core concepts in evolution for lay readers, which shows that random events have played a critical role in the development of life Critical historical events–or “turning points”–have shaped evolution and continue to have a decisive effect on individual lives. This theme is explored and explained in this lucid, accessible book for lay readers. The author argues that, although evolution is the result of unpredictable events, these events have profound influences on sub…Read more
  •  13
    Empirical Philosophy of Science
    Science & Education 28 (1-2): 1-3. 2019.
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    Peer Review and Darwinian Selection
    with Charbel El-Hani, Alice Wong, and Ross Nehm
    Science & Education 24 (9-10): 1055-1057. 2015.
  •  10
    Science, Society, and Scientific Literacy
    Science & Education 28 (6-7): 603-604. 2019.