Milne (1998) has suggested the importance of examining the stories that are found in science textbooks for their philosophical assumptions about science. Of the kinds of stories she has identified are examples of those she calls "heroic." She notes that many such stories may be myths and are often simplistic. Heroic biographies have long been popular, but these are often criticized as being "hagiography," rather than biography (Woodward, 1970, pp. 26 -27). Indeed, such writings may often be closer to historical fiction than to history. Thus, an examination of the philosophical-implicit or explicit-foundations of statements about historical figures, as well as care for the historical accuracy of these statements, is one that should be of concern to both the writers and the readers of these textbooks. As an example of this, consider the recent review (Cassidy, 1997, p. 726) of a popular collection of heroic biographies. Martin and Brouwer (1991), whom Milne cites, emphasize the use of narrative as a means of bringing students into a personal engagement with scientists and their science. The examples they cite are frequently from the writings of the scientists themselves. This has a freshness that is missing from accounts provided by writers who seem unaware of the original writings or of the better secondary sources needed for the telling of a more accurate story. They also provide examples from fictional literature which may encourage the learner to examine aspects of science from a different perspective. In doing this, however, the fictional stories are not submitted as historical accounts of events, but alternative ways of understanding various influences on science and by science.
Unfortunately, Milne does not seem to examine her examples from that framework or to remove their deficiencies in her retelling of the Galileo story. As historian Fischer (1970) noted about historical argument, "A good many historical arguments are objectionable not because they are fallacious but because they are banal, shallow, or trivial" (p. xx). If such stories are to be included (for whatever reason), they should meet the same standard of accuracy demanded by the discipline of history. In addition, they should pertain to the subject at hand.
As an example of one such heroic story, Milne selects a passage about Galileo from a popular high school physics text by Murphy and Smoot (1982, pp. 19-20).