I really like this idea of having students (not just advanced ones) reproduce classic experiments (ideally before getting the theory, so the class can attempt t

I really like this idea of having students (not just advanced ones) reproduce classic experiments (ideally before getting the theory, so the class can attempt to puzzle out what's happening). My sense is that early science was very hands-on and readers of such results were also doers. Plus, doing the experiment before theory puts them in the same spot as the scientist, and might give them a little more respect for an achievement that is really quite magical (and too often is taught in a kind of arrogant hindsight that implies the discovery is/was sneeringly obvious to any human that draws breath)