Friedrich Froebel: interpolation, extrapolation

Abstract

Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Fredrich Froebel was a scientist, both in instinct and in training, and his life coincided with an important and dynamic period of scientific growth. I take this opportunity to delve both into some history and futurology to examine the heritage and legacy of his work. The usual of interpolation is of reading into data: where there exist some consistent trends within a broad set of data then the reader can reasonably infer the value of intervening points, to ‘read between the dots.' Here, I explore known features of Froebel's scientific life and then read – interpret – between the lines. Extrapolations, in turn, are inferences made beyond the data, surmises drawn from datum points already established. This is ‘informed speculation’. In the latter part of the paper, I run with some of Froebel's seminal ideas into the near future, peering forward for issues in science education that might plausibly have Froebelian antecedents.