We live in the present and plan for the future. But what if I told you, it’s even more important to bridge the present and future with the past? This is something that only history can achieve. However, throughout the first half of my life as a young child, I didn’t care too much for history. When I played music for example, I would make sure that I’m playing all the correct notes and rhythms, which I believed is equivalent to being an accomplished musician. Only when I started learning about music history did I realize how wrong I was. My favourite composer became Beethoven - I learned how he was a radical thinker with a horrible temper and unhealthy lifestyle, despite creating timeless music that would be adored for centuries. When I played one of Beethoven’s sonatas, I could feel his personality and ideas reflected in every note and rhythm. The sonata began to have soul, passion, and most importantly, personal connection. I took Beethoven’s work and made it my own, through learning about history. You could say I used the musical time machine and revisited the early Romantic era to try and understand the ideals of the 19th century and Beethoven himself. In a paralleled way, the time machine of STEM is STEM history, and its magic can bring miracles that no kind of spell could ever achieve.
The classic epitome of STEM would be a blackboard filled with equations and diagrams, logic and innovation. But what about the events, places, and people that made those equations and diagrams, things that give life to STEM, a field centered around how life operates? They’re too often left in the corners of the blackboard. STEM history is not just a time machine that can carry us to the past - it can also elevate us to the future as scientists or mathematicians with minds of wonder and skepticism. This is because learning about STEM history builds personal connection and therefore those essential qualities. Without personal connection, STEM is the same for everyone: pure information devoid of critical thought. By discovering, for example, how science was conducted in the past, how experiments have impacted the present/will impact the future, the consequences of inventions, humorous stories behind groundbreaking developments, STEM learners dig deep into the “why well”, a place where they can only keep gaining more motivation and insight. This “why well” will gradually start to expand past personal identity and knowledge to encompass the whole world, including important present-day issues and thought-provoking questions about change in the past and future. Enriching a conventional STEM education with more exploration of STEM history improves STEM learners to become STEM thinkers.
That being said, how do you go down that “why well” and learn about STEM history effectively? It comes down to both mindset and content. Encourage yourself, your teachers, and your peers to go beyond memorizing places, names, and dates, things that bring the enjoyment out of STEM history and all of history. Make connections between events, question foundational ideas, and ponder the impacts on society in all levels of time. This will build a positive, critical mind willing to search for better content. Of course, everyone will have varying preferences in terms of how and what they learn. Personally, I have experienced a wide range of learning styles and I find that it’s best to embrace all of them: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. More specifically, books, movies, videos, articles, diagrams, physical models, anything that presents more topics to be critical about really. After pandemic restrictions are lifted, travel is something that will definitely light up the brain. Just like in science, experimentation is key. Keep digging deeper and asking “why?”, keep finding ways to be in wonder and be skeptical for your entire life. STEM is a field that isn’t confined within any boundaries, so you shouldn’t confine yourself to anything either, especially while learning about STEM history. As James Baldwin once said, “People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them.” We are the result of history, and at the same time we are creating history as each second passes by. Some of us will only be mere specks of dust in history, while some of us will be shining supernovas. You control the STEM time machine, so everything that you decide to experience, learn, and contemplate about while you’re on this magical journey will determine your fate. Embrace STEM history, and it will also embrace you.
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Resources
Ramirez, A. (2020, July 31). Building Critical Thinkers by Combining STEM With History. Retrieved April 7, 2021, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/building-critical-thinkers-combining-stem-history
Study Skills: Learn How To Study History. (n.d.). Retrieved April 7, 2021, from https://www.educationcorner.com/history-study-skills-guide.html
J., M., & Moes, T. (2021, March 18). 210 Brilliant History Quotes Guaranteed To Inspire You. Retrieved April 7, 2021, from https://wisdomquotes.com/history-quotes/