Uma análise pedagógica da história da termodinâmica

Abstract

Heat, as a physical concept, has been studied by humanity for millennia. In ancient Greece, heat was associated with one of the fundamental elements, fire. In this period, since there was no well-established separation between areas of knowledge, mathematics, philosophy and physics were treated as one, and physics and mathematics were entirely practical topics, leading Greek philosophers to sometimes adopt a concrete description of physical concepts. The situation changed over time, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, one can notice the description of physical concepts tending towards a more abstract treatment. Concomitantly, the concept of heat has also evolved from more concrete ideas as an impermeable fluid, to a more abstract ones, as we currently accept it, where we regard it as a form of energy in motion. Today, the dificulties of teaching of physics in elementary and high school arises from this evolution of physical concepts: the presentation of physical concepts by too abstract means hinders the process of knowledge acquisition by the student body. Here I will show how a historical approach to the teaching of thermodynamics can function as a facilitating strategy. I will show how the concept of heat evolved from ancient Greece to the twentieth century; and how it has been influencing society, and at the same time being influenced by philosophical currents, protoscience, and various areas of human knowledge throughout history.