CARHART ON PHYSICS IN A LIBERAL EDUCATION. .:/ 



07 



THE PLACE OF PHYSICS IX A LUiEKAL EDUCATION. 



HENRY S. CARHART, I.L. D. 



The latter half of the centiii'v, which has just closed, has witnessed 

 profound and sii;nificant ehanf;es in the materials which are nsed to 

 inii)art a liberal education. The object aimed at iieniains, however, the 

 same from at;e to a^c The traininjj;- of the intellectual jiowers so that 

 the educated nian may e^nploy them with the hijj,hest efliciency in all 

 positions calliuji' for the exercise of his intellect, constitutes the chief 

 object to be attained by study directed to ])uiely mental ends. I do 

 not wish to be undei-stood as implyinji' that moral trainin<>- should be 

 divorced from intellectual culture; but mv theme deals chietiv with the 

 intellectual rather than the ethical aspects of education. 



The nai'i'ow curriculum of the collejie half a century a^o has <iiven 

 place to the varied and ditferentiated university courses of the present. 

 The sciences, thouji;h at first rather unwelcome guests, are now ac- 

 knowledged members of the family circle. The modci-n languages have 

 reached a position of higiuu- esteem than fornuM-ly, and the study of 

 them has become a necessary and essential part of a lil)eral education. 

 The philosophy of history and the study of contemporary events have 

 suj)planted the old array of dusty facts and sanguinary battle records. 

 E\'en in the pi-imary schools the inspiring practice of waving the revo- 

 lutionai-y ""bloody shirt" in the faces of our lliitish friends across the 

 sea is happily becoming obsolete. The English language and English 

 liteiature are now considered as worthy of study as are the languages 

 and literatures of i»eo])les that long since ceased to be. Political 

 economy and sociology are subjects of recognized standing and are at- 

 tracting large numbers of students. Even i)hilosophy, by a process of 

 peaceful aciiuisition, has allied itself to science by im-luding ex])eri- 

 mental psychology within its colonial domain; and the storm center 

 of heated controversy has shifted from it to the modern subject of 

 sociology. This shift tyi)ifies the change in the topic absorbing i>ublic 

 atteuliou. 



Not only has the past half century Avitnessed an enlargenu^nt of the 

 subject matter of a liberal education, but a revolution has taken place 

 5n the methods of using educational material. Secondhand knowl- 

 edge has taken a secondary jdace as compared with informatictn gained 

 at tirst hand. The sovereignty of the text-book has yielded to the 

 sovereignty of nature. Knowledge by authority is giving place to knowl- 

 edge by conviction. Museums with locked cabinets of natural history 

 or of antifTuities may be veiy laudable enter])rises to meet the demands 

 of public (Uiiosity, but they become educational applian<-es only when 

 the student lias access to tlieii- treasures and can study them by actual 

 contact. 



A significant change has taken ])lace also in pedagogical ])ractice. 

 The method of iuvi^stigation as compared with nuM-e menioriter ac- 

 quisition has been introduced with the serious study of science into 



