X PREFACE 



possession of the human race, and to know how we came 

 to acquire it, as to possess the information which is our 

 rich heritage. 



5. Impress upon him the present Hmitations of our 

 knowledge, and acquaint him with some of the more 

 important problems awaiting solution. 



6. Enlist his interest in the science by so presenting 

 it as to make him sense its importance and value to human 

 life in general, and to his own life in particular, and thereby 

 stimulate him to pursue the study further, and, may be, 

 to the point of making his own original contributions. A 

 class that is properly taught can never inquire, at the end 

 of the course, "What is the use of knowing all that?" 



Outside of technical and professional schools, no intro- 

 ductory course in any subject should ever be planned or 

 presented on the supposition that its main purpose is to 

 pave the way for more advanced courses. The main func- 

 tion of all introductory courses is, as the name implies, to 

 introduce the pupil to a new realm of thought, to acquaint 

 him with a possible new interest in life. If he be led to 

 discover himself in this new realm — well and good; if not 

 — well and good also; he will find himself elsewhere, but 

 will always be enriched and liberalized from the widening 

 of his mental horizon by contact with another discipline 

 than his major interest in life. 



In presenting an elementary course, the aim should not 

 be to make the subject simple — to remove all difficulties — 

 but to make it really interesting, that is, significant to the 

 pupil in his own life, and to make it as rich as possible as 

 a revelation of those broad basic principles which are fun- 

 damental to all true culture, but which are to be amplified 

 and more deeply investigated only in more advanced 



