A letter to American teachers of history

edwa - Robarts - University Of Toronto , Henry Adams

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232 pages

English

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Publié par	edwa
Nombre de lectures	3
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	10 Mo

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A LETTER TO AMERICAN TEACHERS OF HISTORY BY HENRY ADAMS WASHINGTON 1910hhd 1 f? 1Q/4 -8 2,1603 H STREET, D. C.WASHINGTON, Dear Sir : of the commonlyAvailing myself privilege in the liberal to and granted, professions, age I use the freedom of an old seniority, colleague in this small volume for offering your accept ance. Some fifteen on from the years ago, retiring of the Historical IAssociation,Presidency made a short address on the relations of the Historical to had ; and,Department society such a custom I should have existed, gladly the to the dimensions of a enlarged paper The volume now sent in is,Report. you, such a andunofficialeffect, Report, personal. as it some of the most deliTouching, does, cate relations of in rivalInstructionUniversity the book has too much the air ofdepartments, I do not thatknowprovoking controversy. iiiLETTER TO TEACHERSiv would do but I seecontroversy harm, nothing to be it. For thegained by provoking moment, the is one of technical instrucproblem chiefly tion of at of ; grouping departments ; most, in the sciences. Some ithierarchy day, may become a whether one question department, or is to on the aanother, impose University final law of instruction for the; but, present, it is a domestic to be settled at homematter, before the world to interfere. Thereinviting the volume will not be orfore, published, offered for or sent to the forsale, press notice. For the same the volume needs noreason, Unless the whichacknowledgment. questions it raises or seem to sosuggests you personal as to need have no otheraction, you probably interest than that of thepersonal avoiding discussion Few of us arealtogether. required to look or or a wholeten, twenty years, gen eration in order to realise what willahead, then be the relation of to orhistory physicsLETTER TO TEACHERS v and if we make theevenphysiology, attempt, we are met at the the ofoutset by difficulty which infor our is,allowing personal error, so an of thedelicate a calculation, element first ourimportance. Commonly, personal error takes and is morethe form of inertia, or and Forless constant calculable. myself, isthe for movement of inertiapreference decided. The risk of error in achanging course seemslong-established always greater to me than the chance of unlesscorrection, the elements are known more than isexactly in human affairs but the need ofpossible ; these elements is all thedetermining greater on that account and this volume is a ; only first towards theirexperiment calculating past, and future values.present Mathematicians assume the toright choose, within the limits of whatlogical contradiction, in theirpath they please reaching results, that when come to the end ofprovided they their test resultconsent to theirprocess, theyLETTER TO TEACHERSvi the facts of More than thisby experience. cannot be asked of historians.fairly If I call this volume a it is letter, only because that form affects moreto beliterary or more familiar than the usualcolloquial scientific treatise but such letters never ; a even when inviterequire response, they one and in the the of; present case, subject the letter involves a which will cerproblem exceed the limits of a life fartainly already so that its if a solution isadvanced, solution, will have to be reached a newpossible, by generation. 16 1910.February,