Ernst Mach and contemporary science education reforms

Ernst Mach is a largely neglected pioneer of science education. His stress on experience, on the historical or genetic method of presentation, on the cultivation of understanding by limiting the content of curricula, on thought experimentation, on the presentation of the philosophical issues of science‐all make his arguments strikingly contemporary. The inclusion of HPS in both the British National Curriculum, and the American Project 2061 recommendations is a sign that Mach's neglect is unwarranted.