NOVEMBEB 26, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



749 



has its influence and bearing, and in Italy 

 Anton Favaro. 



Out of this critical-idealistic tendency to 

 react from the materialism of science grew the 

 idealistic-historical movement. This is some- 

 times thought of as the synthetical and gen- 

 eralizing phase in scientific learning. The 

 effect of that movement in this country was 

 slight at best, but a beginning had been made 

 in Harvard University by Dr. Eichard in 1890, 

 and in the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 

 nology by Dr. Sedgwick and Dr. Cross, some- 

 what earlier. Dr. Richard's course was a series 

 of voluntary lectures upon chemical philos- 

 ophy, but it was virtually a course upon the 

 history of chemistry. Later, receiving official 

 recognition, it changed to its present title — 

 historical development of chemical theory and 

 elementary physical chemistry. From this 

 grew out (1911) the present courses in the 

 history of the physical and biological sci- 

 ences given by Dr. L. J. Henderson. 



The development of the courses by Dr. 

 Sedgwick had somewhat similar progress. In 

 1887 he offered a course of twelve popular! 

 evening lectures upon the history of biology; 

 later this was transferred to the regular insti- 

 tute curriculum, and became known as the his- 

 tory of the natural sciences. Also in the same 

 year Professor Cross gave to the seniors a 

 reading course on the history of the physical 

 sciences, requiring French and German as well 

 as elementary physics and laboratory work as 

 prerequisites. It was not until 1905 that these 

 courses were combined and given as a regular 

 course called history of science — offered by 

 Professors Sedgwick and Tyler. 



In 1879-80 at Johns Hopkins University a 

 course of twelve lectures upon the history of 

 chemistry was given, but in such a manner 

 that it has never been considered a regular and 

 definite course. 



An interesting fact, again manifested here, 

 is that most of our pioneering in intellectual 

 activities inevitably has its origin in the older 

 'New England institutions. To Harvard Uni- 

 versity belongs the credit of first establishing 

 a definite and systematic course in the his- 

 tory of a special field in science, and to Massa- 



chusetts Institute of Technology, the recogni- 

 tion of the more general field in the historical 

 work in science. That the authorities of Har- 

 vard have fully recognized the value and pur- 

 pose of this new advancement ia science teach- 

 ing, is revealed, not alone by the establishment 

 of the history of science as an independent 

 " group " in their curriculum, but in doing 

 something of a missionary character, as well. 

 This is a very notable instance in educational 

 progress. Dr. L. J. Henderson was, during 

 the past semester, the exchange professor to 

 five middle-Western colleges — Beloit, Carle- 

 ton, Colorado, Grinnell and Knox. At each of 

 these institutions he gave a course of twelve 

 lectures upon the history of science. The 

 order and sequence in which they were estab- 

 lished and given are excellent, and therefore a 

 copy of the lecture-series is here added: 



1. What is Science? 



2. Ancient Astronomy and Its Importance. 



3. Ancient Physics. 



4. Ancient and Modern Science. 



5. Harvey and the Renaissance of Biology. 



6. Galileo to iN'ewton, and the Renaissance 



of Mechanics. 



7. The Seventeenth Century. 



8. The Eighteenth Century. 



9-10. The Great Synthesis of the Nineteenth 

 Century. 



11. The Industrial Revolution and the Scien- 



tific Revolution. 



12. The Value of Science. 



Having now shown in brief what the begin- 

 nings of this movement were, it wiU be of 

 further interest to trace it through the few 

 other schools to the present. We are stiU to 

 bear in mind that the specific courses only are 

 being considered; the general history of sci- 

 ence courses are of late origin, and exist only 

 in a few schools. The response to this new 

 phase of science instruction was slow, in many 

 cases irregular, and in some eases indifferently 

 considered. This fluctuation is only apparent 

 in the older schools in the early period — as, for 

 instance, when the history of astronomy was 

 once given, it is now discontinued, and vice 

 versa. In 1892-93 Tale University first 

 offered a course in the history of mathematics 



