Imagination in science: an excursus from ancient debates to modern studies of complex materials to suggest a flipped classroom approach

Abstract

After the Cultural Revolution in the seventeenth century, several poets believed that science was killing the beauty of art and poetry. So, imagination has been believed to be as opposite to scientific method. Fortunately, this point of view has been generally abandoned now, and the important role of imagination in science is finally well recognized. Particularly in the field of material science, the structural and dynamical properties of a system are usually unpredictable from their constituents, since they come generally from the emerging behavior of assemblies constituted by a huge number of building blocks, so imagination is indicated as an essential tool for (i) thinking experiments, (ii) interpretating their results and (iii) preparing novel materials. This makes the topic absolutely fit for a typical flipped classroom approach. Younger students may make their first knowledge of the use of imagination in science by searching for the debates taken place over the centuries: interesting stories, debates and sometimes enjoying aspects can be found, and this can surely trigger interest in the study up to the investigation of modern complex materials. Then, at school, the stories, ideas, and opinions can be consolidated under the coordination of the teacher. In this ambit, it is obvious that interdisciplinarity is a key ingredient which can surely emerge from the activities. With an eye to future perspectives, final comments and examples of modern research activity will be also reported to show how imagination can help in setting up smart procedures to prepare novel materials in modern science.