258 Teaching the History of Science 



Teaching the history of science in a university should be a full-time position. 

 It is foolish to expect a professor of science to teach the history of science as a 

 secondary job, for he will have to neglect his scientific research and teaching, or 

 else his teaching of the history of science will remain mediocre and sterile. This 

 will be realized more keenly when we consider the qualifications of a teacher of 

 the history of science. These qualifications may be summarized under five heads: 



1 ) Deep knowledge and long experience ( including laboratory experience ) in 

 one field of science. 



2) More superficial knowledge of various other branches of science. 



5) Knowledge of history in general and familiarity with historical methods. 

 Historical spirit. 



4) Knowledge of philosophy, and especially of the philosophy of science. Philo- 

 sophical spirit. 



5) Good knowledge of many European languages, including Latin (and if 

 possible, Greek or Arabic). 



The prospective teacher must have proved his ability by a "masterpiece" (in 

 the mediaeval sense), that is, by the publication of a genuine piece of research in 

 a particular field of the history of science. A botanist can hardly hope to obtain 

 a good teaching position without having proved that he has an overall knowledge 

 of botany, experience in one special branch of it, ability to promote botanical 

 knowledge and to train other students; even so, a historian of science must have 

 proved his familiarity with the whole field, his deeper experience of one part of 

 it, his power to increase knowledge and to transmit it to others. 



The training of a historian of science is so complex that it requires a long time. 

 On the other hand, teaching positions are thus far very few. Fortunately, such 

 training is excellent not only for this purpose but for many others. It affords per- 

 haps the best kind of preparation for many para-scientific professions, all the literary, 

 historical, philosophical or even administrative activities connected with scientific 

 investigations, or with scientific teaching, scientific fibraries and museums, the editing 

 of scientific periodicals or the writing of scientific books. Such activities are already 

 numerous and their number is steadily increasing. 



The teacher should be ready to teach the whole history of science, or at least 

 the essential parts of it, from prehistoric days down to our own. If he secures an 

 appointment in a larger university where his work is shared with other men he may 

 be permitted to focus his attention on a part of the field, but even then a preliminary 

 knowledge of the whole field will be of great advantage to him. 



Some teachers may qualify for the teaching not of the history of science in 

 general, but rather of the teaching the history of one particular science (or group of 

 sciences) such as mathematics, physics, biology or geology. Even in such cases 

 familiarity with the history of science in general would enable them to accomplish 

 their own task better. 



When the size and resources of a university make it possible to divide the work 

 between many teachers, the division of labor might be accomplished in many ways, 

 according to the general program and to the several qualifications of the teachers. 

 Let us assume, e.g., that four teachers are employed. A, B, C, D. A might teach 

 the history of ancient science, and also the history of mathematics; B might ex- 

 plain mediaeval science, and also the history of geography and anthropology; C, 

 the history of biology, and also the history of science during the fifteenth to the 

 seventeenth centuries; D the history of physics (or of chemistry), and also the history 

 of modern science. 



Most universities and colleges will have to be satisfied with one teacher and that 

 teacher must be able to teach the whole history of science. It is much to be hoped 

 that one university at least will have enough courage and vision to establish a kind 

 of normal school for the history of science, with from four to ten teachers of vari- 

 ous standing — from instructor to full professor. This would become the cradle 

 of good teachers for the whole nation and even for other nations. It is easier to 

 raise the standards of research in a place where many men are working together 

 and where there develops naturally a keen emulation between them. 



