The Waring Worlds of H. G. Wells: The Entangled Histories of Education, Sociobiology, Post-genomics, and Science Fiction

Abstract

Drawing on H. G. Wells’ visionary texts, social critique, and revolutionary insights, this chapter revisits and recontextualizes questions raised by Wells almost a century ago around the adequacy of science education curricula to grapple with the still unfolding Anthropocene. Exploring the technological advances in molecular biology that have occurred over the last twenty years, which have instigated an epistemological turn toward what many science studies scholars are calling the post-genomic era, this chapter situates current education research and policy debates within the post-genomic era through new research in the field of sociobiology. Conversely, drawing on the fundamental reconceptualization of inheritance that underlies genomic research in the post-genomic era, this chapter argues for a similar reconceptualization of intelligence, educational attainment, cognition, and learning. The chapter concludes by exploring the potential of a transnational and transknowledge extended synthesis within education, one that encourages critical examination of the impact of globalization, nationalism, and capitalism on science education and works to imagine how science education can be reformed, reimagined, and reconfigured to contribute to the radical actualization of a just, equitable, and sustainable world.