Showing papers in "The History Teacher in 1973"

Science and Controversy: A Biography of Sir Norman Lockyer

Abstract: One of the most important astronomers of his day and the inaugurator and first editor of the journal \"Nature, \" Sir Norman Lockyer was one of the key figures of the late Victorian period. The author of this eminently readable biography notes that among Victorian scientists, Lockyer is most nearly comparable with T. H. Huxley. Both thrived on controversy; but whereas Huxley generally came out the winner, Lockyer more often came out the loser. \"Yet this, in its way, makes Lockyer the more interesting of the two: as he stood at a slight angle to the world view of his scientific peers, so he seems to hold up for us a mirror to their beliefs. Throughout it all he retained that self-confidence which is often claimed as a Victorian characteristic.\"Lockyer made numerous genuine discoveries in his studies of stellar evolution, solar prominences, spectroscopy, the orientation of Stonehenge and Egyptian monuments along major astronomical axes, and in other areas. If in the process of some of these studies he stirred up a dust of controversy, well, perhaps so much the better: certain scientific questions may have become \"dusty\" in the first instance simply out of intellectual neglect or sloth and could well use a public airing and brushing off. And if Lockyer was more often than not on the losing side, it should be noted that time has vindicated his intuition and perspicacity in a number of cases. For example, Lockyer was one of the first to suggest that atoms might not be the ultimate, immutable, \"uncuttable\" material entity, a scientific heresy in its day. Other \"victories\" were to be achieved posthumously.Giorgio de Santillana, introducing Lockyer's \"The Dawn of Astronomy\" (reprinted by The MIT Press in 1964), succinctly places Lockyer within the scientific milieu of his times: \"Sir Norman Lockyer (1836-1920) was one of the major English astronomers of his time.... In 1870 he was appointed secretary to the Duke of Devonshire's Royal Commission on science; a few years later, on the foundation of the Royal College of Science in London, he became director of the solar physics observatory and professor of astronomical physics. From 1866, he had been a pioneer in sun and star spectroscopy. He inaugurated \"Nature\" in 1869 and edited it until his death. His interests went far afield, as we shall see....\"Lockyer's fame is solidly based on his study of the sun. In 1868 he described the flares and prominences as located in a layer he called the chromosphere, and applied the Doppler principle to its movements. In 1868 Lockyer and Janssen, working independently, discovered a spectroscopic method whereby the solar prominences could be studied in daylight, whereas previously they were observable only during a total eclipse.... Among his most important discoveries is that of a new element in the solar atmosphere that he called 'helium' and that was found later among the rare gases on earth.\"\"Science and Controversy\" makes all of this perfectly understandable to readers with only minimal scientific aptitude and a half-forgotten technical vocabulary. The strength and ebullience of Lockyer's personality and the grace of his biographer together assure a fascinating and lively account.

Progressivism: An Historiographical Essay.

Abstract: B ECAUSE the modern American liberal state, with its bureaucratically centralized structure and concern for social welfare, developed at the beginning of the twentieth century, the progressive movement, which initiated these changes, has had a powerful appeal to historians Its causes, consequences, nature, and meaning have stimulated controversy ever since Through an analysis of the changing interpretations one becomes more aware not only of progressivism but of the varied intellectual currents of the twentieth century, which have shaped the views of the historians who have studied the era

The Birth of the Past: Children's Perception of Historical Time.

Abstract: IN the last fifty years, a considerable amount of research has been devoted to the question of children's understanding of time. The modern reader is struck by the high quality of most this work and is enlightened by the insightful conclusions of the investigators. Oakden and Sturt's 1921 article in the British Journal of Psychology and Piaget's Le Developpement de la Notion de Temps chez l'Enfant, first published in 1927, were seminal efforts in the field. 1 Also of interest are the studies of M.L.

A Relationship of Constrained Anxiety: Historians and Film

Abstract: HISTORIANS have long valued the aesthetic approach to the study of culture. If it be true that the most precious values of a culture are displayed in its arts, then the study of these arts becomes proper for the historian. But, as Barry Uldnov has noted, 1 a twentieth century democracy produces two kinds of culture. The first or "private" culture contains those arts in which the artist speaks only to himself and to the individual who sympathizes or understands. It is this culture which includes the "high thought" which intellectual historians have regarded as their special scholarly preserve. The second or "popular culture" is geared to profit, and hence to the perceived values of the widest possible audience. Without doubt the commercial film lies within this area. While serious students of the film do not deny that art-in the traditional sense of something connoting beauty and tastecan exist in popular culture, or suggest that the popular nature of the film in any way inhibits film art, professional historians have not subscribed to these views. Clio's aesthetic impulse has tended to ignore the screen. Historians form but a sub-group in American intellectual life.

The Documentary Film in History Teaching: An Experimental Course.

Abstract: SURELY historians can no longer ignore the opinion widespread in many circles that history is a "traditional, narrow discipline," concerned exclusively with "data transmission," which is "on the way out." We ought to recognize that no purpose is served by complaining that such. rhetorical descriptions are invalid because they do not correspond to the reality of history teaching, past or present. Yet no one took a survey in the past, and the results of recent college course popularity polls (which would seem to offer some indication of subject attraction) indicate that the present criticism of academic offerings is broadcast widely over the whole spectrum of the traditional curriculum. We cannot prove that history teaching has never been (or is never) narrow data-transmission. But those who assert this cannot prove that it was, and they do not make such an effort to prove that it is. They seem to be content with their opinion when it serves their needs; historians obviously cannot remain satisfied with mere assertions to the contrary. It is the very existence of "the opinion" that matters, and "the opinion" is widely accepted. To believe otherwise would be to ignore the testimony of many secondary teachers and collegiate colleagues, especially those in other social sciences and in professional education. We ourselves have taken this testimony during several years of close involvement with the secondary schools, mainly through teachers'

Doing History: A Skills Approach.

Abstract: FOR a number of years now, the cry has been abroad in the land that the explosion of knowledge is so extensive that we must place increasing emphasis on teaching students how to learn. What they know may not be so significant as knowing how to learn what they may need to know at any given moment. Unfortunately, American educational practices have not sufficiently kept pace with the need to change, reminding one of Mark Twain's statement about New England weather: "Everybody talks about it, but nobody does anything about it." The teaching of history from grade school through graduate school seems particularly impervious to change in this regard. While teachers and scholars in other fields have been working for the last decade to articulate the structure of their disciplines as one way to approach the problem of helping students to learn how to learn, the very few historians who have devoted their time and energies to history education in the schools have either ignored or sidestepped the problem of identifying the structure of the discipline after some desultory debate over whether history has or does not have a structure in the first place.

Professions in Process: Changing Relations Among Social Scientists, Historians, and Educators, 1880-1920.

Abstract: HISTORIANS in the United States have not devoted a significant amount of professional attention to educational and pedagogical questions. Why, then, has history managed until recently to maintain its relatively dominant position in the curriculum of public schools and colleges? Is it because Americans have recognized the efficacy of historical studies? Perhaps. Has history escaped serious professional competition? Hardly. Since the 1880's social scientists have demanded a larger place for their disciplines in schools and colleges. Have historians presented the most coherent and carefully articulated program of study? Some historians no doubt think so, but many social scientists and educators disagree. Has history's continued advantage been the product of institutional lethargy? Certainly curricular change is slow, but other traditional disciplines, notably the classical languages, have practically disappeared from the curricula of many schools and colleges. Why not history? History's institutional tenacity can be explained in part by: (1) the inability of social scientists, the historians' chief professional rivals, to build a viable alliance with educators which might have allowed them to strengthen their position in the schools, and (2) the presence since the 1880's of at least a small segment of professional historians who have concerned themselves with the place of history in the schools and who have made some effort to establish contacts with leaders of the education profession. Why did social scientists allow themselves to be outmaneuvered by historians in their relations with educators? The answer lies deeply embedded in the heart of the reaction of middle-class Americans to the profound transformation of American life in the late nineteenth and

Teaching Black History in Secondary Schools: A Bibliography.

Abstract: TODAY more and more history teachers realize the importance of having their students know and understand the roles and contributions of the various ethnic minority groups in the history of the United States The histories of these parts of the whole is to be more than fiction The study of American history in the schools has been and still is incomplete as far as the role played by blacks in the history of the nation is concerned To continue to ignore the contributions of blacks serves not only to distort history, but also to deprive the black American of his heritage In response to black demands for black history and black studies, educational institutions at all levels have made some attempts to institute such courses and programs However, many teachers are convinced that an exclusive concentration of black history, in separate courses for example, poses the danger of isolating the contributions of blacks from the mainstream of American history, and tends to promote isolation at the present moment as well What seems to be required is an effort by teachers to integrate into existing course structures a fuller presentation of the role of black Americans It is the purpose of this article to present introductions to the various types of materials which a history teacher can consult to make his classroom presentations more complete and more challenging

Historians and Film: Some Problems and Prospects.

Abstract: F ROM all the evidence available it seems that the 1970's will be the decade in which the historical profession becomes fully aware of the significance of film. High school teachers who have long been using film in their classes may find it difficult to believe, but university historians have paid little attention to motion pictures until quite recently. Symptomatic of a misplaced feeling of superiority, film has been dismissed as "high school stuff' by too many generations of college teachers. Historical research into film documents has barely begun, but graduate students continue to re-examine feverishly the traditional manuscript collections. Unaware for so long of the value of film teaching and research, academic historians are just beginning to utilize this "window into history."

History at the Cinema: A Guide for the Movie-Going History Student.

Abstract: MEDIA has become an important concern of classroom teachers. Many of us, who a few years ago were content to meet our classes with a reasonably good text, some orderly lecture notes, a few theatrics, and a bit of charisma, are now learning all we can about video-tape, film loops, and play back units. We have reconsidered our methodology because we accept the much publicized premise that print, on which we once relied so heavily, is only one of the sources from which students learn. We have begun to bring the new media into our classrooms. The positive effects of this effort, however, will be minimized if teachers do not consider as well the media experiences students have outside the classroom. No matter how much film and tape we bring to our history classes, students will continue to learn and mislearn much history from television and the movies. The students who leave my charge on Friday night may return on Monday with film-formed impressions of Billy the Kid, Lady Caroline Lamb, and Hitler's last days. Gone with the Wind is back again, while Victor Mature is still fighting the lions on the late show. I believe we must find ways to encourage our students to view more critically the history-related media they encounter away from school. My particular concern here is with the commercial film. Too often history teachers find themselves cast in the role of pedantic debunkers of good movie stories. We need to develop with our students a format which

The Latin American Film, Realism, and the Historian.

Abstract: THE new generation of Latin American film makers is an historically oriented group. It is producing a lengthening list of films which can aid historians in their study and teaching of the past. Many of their films deserve a prominent place in our classrooms. The intention of this brief essay is to introduce some of the outstanding Latin American film makers and their films to educators in the United States. The recommendations are based on my use of these films in a variety of film-centered courses, the most recent of which focused on Latin American social history.