The problem here dealt with concerns physics education, and specifically the concept of force.
The idea behind this research is that a historical approach to the teaching of such a notion is of
great help for the students to fully understand the meaning of this basic physical magnitude. For,
most of scientific concepts can be better grasped by the learners if their genetic phase is presented
and the problems that induced scientists to introduce them are expounded. In this way, the students
will catch the rationale behind the birth of scientific notions. Furthermore, a shared educational
itinerary among the teachers of physics, mathematics, history, and philosophy can be conceived
so as to realize an interdisciplinary approach to science education. It is often presented as a
desideratum, but is rarely concretely developed. Here, restricting to the notion of force, such an
approach is developed. Since force is strictly connected to inertia and mass, a large part of this
discussion is dedicated to such two notions.
