A Problematization about the Nature of Science: an analysis of Philipp Lenard’s Nobel Lecture and the Nazi “Deutsche Physik” movement

Abstract

One of the objectives of current scientific education is to promote a more authentic understanding of the Nature of Science (NoS). However, a recurring challenge is the scarcity of accessible historical materials that enable teachers to implement explicit and reflective approaches to aspects of NoS. In this context, a two-stage study was conducted. In the first part, an analysis and discussion of Nobel Lecture delivered by German physicist Philipp Lenard (1862–1947) upon receiving the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1905 were carried out. In the second stage, a historical account was constructed regarding the genesis and development of the Nazi movement “German Physics” (“Deutsche Physik”) during the years 1920 to 1938, under the leadership of Philipp Lenard and Johannes Stark (1874–1957). The selection of NoS aspects to be problematized was based on the investigative approach by “themes” and “questions” proposed by researcher André Martins (2015). Through specific excerpts, a discussion was conducted, demonstrating to what extent it is possible to problematize the main distorted images about scientific work, as pointed out by Gil-Perez et al. (2001). At the end of this article, the complete translation of the presentation speech and the content of the Nobel Lecture is made available as “supplementary material”.