The history of science illustrates some exciting--and sometimes controversial--moments. Unfortunately, textbooks tend to focus on results in a scientific discipline and only occasionally showcase an interesting historical vignette, telling the story behind those results. Although required studies may leave teachers little classroom time for teaching the history of science, historical controversies can be streamlined to offer multiple benefits. In this article the authors describe how they use historical controversies to develop students' analysis and argumentation skills, by which they investigate scientific claims, interpret data, weigh the evidence, and effectively argue a viewpoint. Historical scientific controversies, typically free of modern politics, offer a less-distracting context in which to teach these skills than do current issues. This article offers tips on how to effectively teach with historical controversies using case studies. Case studies can bring assigned readings to life and help students synthesize concepts (Honan and Rule 2002).