To Teach the History of Science? 65 



and disagreements, in spite of greed for power and money among the 

 most rapacious, in spite of the natural hatreds of some men for other 

 men, in spite of intolerance, superstition and cruelty, in spite of wars and 

 revolutions. That underlying unity must be revealed by the teacher as 

 frequently and as fully as possible. Within his own immediate milieu, it 

 is his duty to provide links between a whole gamut of leaders, from the 

 technical barbarians at the extreme left to the well-meaning but ignorant 

 and inefficient humanists at the extreme right. He should help to inte- 

 grate our spiritual life, on the one hand, by explaining scientific facts and 

 points of view and methods to the humanists, politicians, administrators, 

 and on the other hand, by humanizing the men of science and engineers 

 and reminding them always of the traditions without which our lives, 

 however efficient, remain ugly and meaningless. 



His main business is to build bridges — to build bridges between the 

 nations and what is equally important, within each nation, between life, 

 the good life, and technology, between the humanities and science. 



The main value of the history of science to the philosophically 

 minded scientist, the scientist who wishes to understand the indebted- 

 ness of his knowledge, lies in its moderating influence. Retrospective 

 views enable him to keep his balance between dogmatism on the one 

 hand, and scepticism and discouragement on the other. They help him 

 to be patient in the words of Robert E. Lee: 



"The march of Providence is so slow, and our desires so impatient, 

 the work of progress is so immense, and our means of aiding it so feeble, 

 the life of humanity is so long, and that of the individual so brief, that we 

 often see only the ebb of the advancing wave, and are thus discouraged. 

 It is history that teaches us to hope." '^'^ 



That statement is curious in the mouth of a general, especially of a 

 defeated one. It is more applicable to scientific than to political and 

 military matters. One might sometimes despair of political progress, 

 but there is no reason for good men ever to despair or to be ashamed of 

 science. 



Above all, the history of science teaches humility. Some of our 

 inventors and technicians may boast as much as they please. By so 



™ These beautiful words are quoted by Thomas Barbour : Naturalist at large ( p. 

 287, 1943; Isis, 35, 343). I tried to trace them in Lee's works but failed. I then 

 applied to Lee's foremost biographer, Douglas Southall Freeman: R. E. Lee (4 

 vols.. New York, 1934-35), who kindly wrote to me from Richmond, Virginia, 27 

 March, 1947: 



"If I could answer the question in your letter of March 17th I would be very 

 happy. The quotation from General Lee first was pubhshed in an address delivered 

 by Colonel Charles Marshall at the laying of the cornerstone of the Lee Monu- 

 ment in Richmond, about 1887. Presumably the paragraph was one of those that 

 General Lee had written down, according to a practice of his, during the war. I 

 have always wondered whether he wrote it or found it somewhere and copied it, 

 but I never have been able to answer that question. You will find it quoted at 

 length in my 'R. E. Lee,' Volume IV, page 484." 



