The main thing is to understand that in a world dominated by scientific methods and inventions the history of science should be the keystone of higher education.
–George Sarton in the Preface to The Study of the History of Mathematics and The Study of the History of Science (second printing, 1957)
From that infallible source:
George Alfred Leon Sarton (31 August 1884 – 22 March 1956), a Belgian–American chemist and historian, is considered the founder of the discipline of history of science.[1] He has a significant importance in the history of science and his most influential work was the Introduction to the History of Science, which consists of three volumes and 4,296 pages. Sarton ultimately aimed to achieve an integrated philosophy of science that provided a connection between the sciences and the humanities, which he referred to as “the new humanism”.[2]
I am currently reading Studies in the History of Education Opinion from the Renaissance by S.S. Laurie (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1903) and I’m not so sure Sarton has this right. Inventions are of course key. But I’ll save that for another day.
Originally published at Bigfoodetc.com on July 23, 2016; edited here.
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