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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIV. No. 1407. 



of the history of mathematics with a course on 

 the methods of teaching mathematics. Then, 

 too, there are the usual variations — special 

 lectures in connection with or supplementary 

 to the regular mathematical courses, seminar 

 work, etc. Closely associated with historical 

 studies in pure mathematics are those, such 

 as the histories of astronomy, civil engineer- 

 ing, analytical mechanics, and mathematical 

 physics. 



Where the history of a special science is 

 handled by a member of the department of in- 

 struction devoted to that science alone, the 

 viewpoint of the scientist, i.e., the viewpoint 

 of the original investigator and discoverer 

 whose work is being studied, may be presented. 

 The physical equipment within the department 

 aifords not only a convenient but absolutely 

 essential means of illustration. In many cases, 

 this may and should involve the actual repe- 

 tition, step by step, of the classical experiment 

 or investigation. All possible pertinent ma- 

 terial should be acquired for its usefulness in 

 this particular course, and that this can be 

 handled to the best advantage only by the 

 specialist, goes without saying. 



At present there are offered in this country 

 courses dealing solely with the histories of 

 mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, zool- 

 ogy, botany, evolution, anthropology, astron- 

 omy, geology, psychology, medicine, phar- 

 macy, home economies, engineering, and 

 probably many others. In some cases there are 

 evidences that these subjects have been offered 

 because of the vision of a single man who not 

 only launched the work, but maintained it per- 

 sonally. That this has often been so is shown 

 by the fact that the course has been allowed 

 to lapse after the departure of this particular 

 teacher. Those who remain are kept too busy 

 to carry on the work, although the majority of 

 them have expressed the firmest conviction of 

 its worth. 



The historical courses in these main divi- 

 sions of science are modeled differently in vari- 

 ous institutions. A few attempt to cover the 

 entire history of the subject chronologically. In 

 other cases the material is taken up by periods, 

 e.g., the " Development of Chemistry During 



the Seventeenth Century." Or again, a very 

 narrow line of growth within the science may 

 constitute the subject matter of the course, 

 such as the " History of the Law of Gravity." 

 Either of these latter methods, though limited 

 in scope, makes possible quite thorough work. 

 The present high development of the sci- 

 ences is a thing of such modern times that 

 there is no end of material available for study- 

 ing the recent portions of their growth. Here 

 again is a task that must be directed by the 

 specialist — one who is familiar with the 

 literature of his science. Probably no physi- 

 cist would consider himself capable of di- 

 recting the historical reading and research in 

 the field of botany. Likewise each science 

 teacher would view as puerile the attempts 

 of any one — no matter how capable in a spe- 

 cial field — to direct all of the various phases 

 in a course on the history of general science. 

 From time to time eminent chemistry 

 teachers have conducted lecture courses on 

 the chemistry of a iperiod or the evolution 

 of a chemical theory, although in many cases 

 such instruction is no longer given. Prob- 

 ably this is because the present-day special- 

 ist finds little time for such studies in ad- 

 dition to the purely technical work for which 

 he is most admired just at present. 



One institution gives each beginning class 

 in chemistry five lectures dealing solely with 

 historical matter. Of course, in all schools 

 some of the history of the subject is intro- 

 duced from time to time in the regular in- 

 struction in the science. Some teachers of 

 long experience have expressed themselves as 

 greatly in favor of giving more time to this 

 history — a special course, if possible — ^but 

 owing to the difficulty in setting apart the 

 requisite amount of time for such a thorough 

 study, they have had to content themselves 

 with mere references to the historical back- 

 ground. However, this method in any sci- 

 ence is not without its good points, for it is 

 one of the surest ways of securing interest, 

 and at the same time it prevents the student 

 from grasping a law or serviceable result as 

 a God-given tool and the only feature worth 

 retaining. It shows him the essentially hu- 



