科學之美及其教學之可能

The teaching of the beauty of science

「科學之美」的教學除了說明科學美的感情和趣味性之外，它也可能引發學習興趣，貫通冷硬的科學知識，以及建立科學的價值。科學教育中，領略科學之美為教學目標的企圖，與一般美學一樣，它必須面對兩種挑戰：一、確立審美判斷的基礎；二、論證審美判斷的普遍有效性。就課堂教學的經營而言，直接鋪陳知識內容或是情意教學都可以論說「科學之美」。解說科學知識內容的嚴整性是傳統課程的強項，它直接呈現知識的秩序美，快速而容易操作。情意教學常透過歷史案例及其與社會互動的方式進行，強調知識建構的過程，迂迴而緩慢。然而由知識、人文、社會對話等層面來提供欣賞科學的進路，富有融通知識與價值判斷的優點。史學家克理斯結合科學史的內容來補充美學的論證，從而展示物理科學實驗之中同時也蘊涵著美的方法，較近似於情意教學。在他的「實驗科學之美」的論述中，「深度」、「效能」及「明確性」所說明的是科學實驗細節的安排以及知識內容本身對於科學典範的衝擊；「總體」、「廣闊」、「樸實」、「壯闊」則是閱讀者情感的回應。只是，開闢新視野的基石科學容易展現這類「實驗科學之美」的層面。如何以美學的角度來欣賞注重資料收集的一般科學，或是純科學理論的研究仍是個考驗。由於談論「科學之美」有語彙的困難、科學知識內容重點不同、甚至是個人理解能力的差異等等的問題，因此在教材及解說的方式除了建立明確的論證結構之餘，讓各種方法得以並陳，截長補短才是上策。

Discourses on the beauty of science serve as a means for fostering study interest, integrating scientific knowledge, and establishing values that are important issues in education. There are two challenges to incorporate aesthetics in teaching, namely developing a concrete foundation of aesthetic judgment and establishing its general applications. Comparing the effectiveness of education, teaching by traditional methods has strengths in efficiency and in knowledge detail. On the other hand, affective education lectures combining epistemology, science history, humanity, and social context provide productive dialogues and show advantages in appreciation and integration of knowledge. The American historian R.P. Crease has taken groundbreaking discoveries in Physics as examples to establish a two-level analysis to reveal elements of beauty in such scientific discoveries. The first level is to analyze the impact of each work on the scientific paradigm regarding depth, usefulness and conviction. The second level is to trigger the feeling of completeness, broadness, simplicity and splendor. However, fragmentation and routine are the characteristics of modern sciences. How to create a framework for appreciation of the beauty both of these data-collecting experiments and of the knowledge generated from pure ideas demands further analysis. Due to the semantic ambiguity and variations in the emphasis of subjects and individual preference, complimentary methods are required for the effective description of the beauty of science.