One More Legacy of Paul F. Brandwein: Creating Scientists

This paper studies the influence of Paul F. Brandwein, author, scientist, teacher and mentor, publisher, humanist, and environmentalist, on gifted youngsters who later became scientists, based primarily on information gathered from surveys completed by 25 of his students and one colleague. It also traces his profound interactions with science educators. It illuminates the theories of Brandwein and his protégés and colleagues about the interaction of environment, schooling, and education and Brandwein’s belief in having students do original research (that is, research whose results are unknown) on their way to discovering their future scientific paths. It tests Brandwein’s 1955 hypothesis on the characteristics typical of the young who eventually become scientists, namely:

Three factors are considered as being significant in the development of future scientists: a Genetic Factor with a primary base in heredity (general intelligence, numerical ability, and verbal ability); a Predisposing Factor, with a primary base in functions which are psychological in nature; an Activating Factor, with a primary base in the opportunities offered in school and in the special skills of the teacher. High intelligence alone does not make a youngster a scientist (p xix).

The predisposing factor included traits he called persistence—a willingness “to labor beyond a prescribed time… to withstand discomfort… to face failure”—and “questing”—a “dissatisfaction with present explanations of aspects of reality” (p. 10). Brandwein’s activating factor included “opportunities for advanced training and contact with an inspirational teacher” (p. 11).

All quotations are from Brandwein’s The Gifted Student as Future Scientist: The High School Student and His Commitment to Science (Harcourt, Brace, New York, 1955/1981. Reprinted in 1981, retitled The Gifted Student as Future Scientist and with a new preface, as vol 3 of A Perspective Through a Retrospective, by the National/State Leadership Training Institute on the Gifted and the Talented, Los Angeles, CA).