An Examination of the Documentary Film "Einstein and Eddington" in Terms of Nature of Science Themes, Philosophical Movements, and Concepts

• Published in: International journal of progressive education Vol. 12; no. 2; pp. 34 - 46
• Main Author: Kapucu, Munise Seçkin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: International Association of Educators 01-06-2016
• Subjects: Content Analysis; Documentaries; Philosophy; Qualitative Research; Scientific Concepts; Scientific Principles
• ISSN: 1554-5210

This study aims to examine nature of science themes, philosophical movements, and overall concepts covered in the documentary film, "Einstein and Eddington". A qualitative research method was used. In this study, the documentary film "Einstein and Eddington," the viewing time of which is 1 hour and 28 minutes, was used as the data source. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. As a result of the research, it has been found that the documentary put emphasis on the philosophical movements of positivism, rationalism, and relativism. It has been identified that five nature of science themes have been addressed in the documentary, namely that scientific knowledge is tentative; that it includes logical, mathematical, and empirical inferences; that it is subjective; that it is partly the product of human imagination and creativity; and that it is influenced by social and cultural factors. The documentary included concepts related to Einstein's Theories (General and Special Relativity), light deflection in the gravitational field and solar eclipse. As a result, this study showed that "Einstein and Eddington" is a documentary film that could be used in the instruction of some nature of science themes, philosophical movements, and concepts.