The nature of heat in different historic contexts

Abstract

The multiple meanings that a concept can have throughout history illustrate changes in science. Once the nature of something is defined, its consequences involve a change in the way of looking at and interpreting phenomena and vice versa. Attempts at understanding how a concept has changed requires knowing the context of the science and a given society, namely where and when the change is taking place. Such a complex requirement can be applied in the context of Science teaching as a way to explicitly demonstrate the nonlinear advance of science and the inexistence of final truths, among other issues related to the nature of science such as the importance of the social context and that observations are theory-laden. With these goals, this paper intends to explore the complex history of the concept of heat from antiquity until the 18th century. We chose to divide the history of heat into some historical moments which can show antagonistic theses. We focused on showing two or more interpretations of the same phenomenon and how these interpretations contributed to adopting a different theory of the nature of heat. This paper is part of a study which intends to prepare historical material for teachers and High School students linking historiography of science and educational aspects.