Using History To Teach Scientific Method: The Case of Argon

The history of science is full of stories that exhibit scientific methodology to an exemplary degree. Such stories can be vehicles for the teaching of scientific thought to non-science majors in general-education science courses, particularly if they do not involve much technical background and are told in ordinary language. This paper illustrates the kind of lessons that can be gleaned from such stories by examining the discovery of argon, an episode replete with examples of how scientists pursue knowledge. Lord Rayleigh's use of multiple methods to determine the density of nitrogen; his persistent tracking down of a small but real anomaly in those measurements; his and William Ramsay's eventual realization that the anomaly was due to a previously unknown but relatively plentiful component of the atmosphere, an inert, monatomic gas; and Ramsay's subsequent successful search for other members of the inert gas family all illustrate the scientific approach to knowledge. This story can be presented to students in Rayleigh's words, annotated to supply background material and to pose questions.