History
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
History is the study of the past, focused on human activity and leading up to the present day.[1] More precisely, history is the continuous, systematic narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race [1]; as well as the study of all events in time, in relation to humanity.[2] Those who study it as a profession are called historians. All events that are remembered and preserved in some form constitute the historical record.[2] Some historians study universal history. Others focus on certain methods, such as chronology, demography, historiography, genealogy, paleography, or cliometrics, or on certain areas, such as History of Brazil (1889–1930), History of China, or History of Science.
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[edit] Broad discipline
The study of history has sometimes been classified as part of the humanities and at other times as part of the social sciences[3] It can also be seen as a bridge between those two broad areas, incorporating methodologies from both. Some individual historians strongly support one or the other classification.[4] In modern academia, history is increasingly classified as a social science. In the 20th century the study of history was revolutionized by French historian Fernand Braudel, by using such outside disciplines as economics, anthropology, and geography in the study of global history.
Traditionally, historians have attempted to answer historical questions through the study of written documents, although historical research is not limited merely to these sources. In general, the sources of historical knowledge can be separated into three categories: what is written, what is said, and what is physically preserved, and historians often consult all three.[5] Historians frequently emphasize the importance of written records, which would limit history to times after the development of writing. This emphasis has led to the term prehistory[6] to refer to any period of human history predating surviving written records. Since writing emerged at different times throughout the world, and since some kinds of written records are more perishable than others, the distinction between prehistory and history is often blurred.
There are a variety of ways in which history can be organized, including chronologically, culturally, and topically. These three divisions are not mutually exclusive, and significant overlaps are often present, as in "The Argentine Labor Movement in an Age of Transition, 1930–1945." It is possible for historians to concern themselves with both the very specific and the very general, although the modern trend has been toward specialization. The area called Big History resists this specialization, and searches for universal patterns or trends. History has often been studied with some practical or theoretical aim, but also may be studied out of simple intellectual curiosity.[7]
[edit] History and prehistory
- Further information: Protohistory
The development, transmission, and transformation of cultural practices and events are the subject of history. In the 20th century, the division between history and prehistory became problematic. Criticism arose because of history's implicit exclusion of certain civilizations, such as those of Sub-Saharan Africa and pre-Columbian America. Historians in the West have been criticized for focusing disproportionately on the Western world.[8][9] This, essentially, is the use of the arrow of time in history.
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ a b Whitney, W. D. (1889). The Century dictionary; an encyclopedic lexicon of the English language. New York: The Century Co. Page 2842.
- ^ a b WordNet Search - 3.0, "History".
- ^ Scott Gordon and James Gordon Irving, The History and Philosophy of Social Science. Routledge 1991. Page 1. ISBN 0415056829
- ^ Ritter, H. (1986). Dictionary of concepts in history. Reference sources for the social sciences and humanities, no. 3. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. Page 416.
- ^ Michael C. Lemon (1995). The Discipline of History and the History of Thought. Routledge. Page 201. ISBN 0415123461
- ^ archaeological.org
- ^ Graham, Gordon (1997). "Chapter 1", The Shape of the Past. Oxford University.
- ^ Jack Goody (2007) [http://books.google.com/books?id=jo1UVi48Kyblswodfeiofwerfrwgerg5g55gg5g5g5g5g
[edit] Historiography
Historiography has a number of related meanings. It can refer to the history of historical study, its methodology and practices (the history of history). It can also refer to a specific body of historical writing (for example, "medieval historiography during the 1960s" means "medieval history written during the 1960s"). Historiography can also be taken to mean historical theory or the study of historical writing and memory. As a meta-level analysis of descriptions of the past, this third conception can relate to the first two in that the analysis usually focuses on the narratives, interpretations, worldview, use of evidence, or method of presentation of other historians.
[edit] Scientific views
In 1910, American historian Henry Adams printed and distributed to university libraries and history professors the small volume A Letter to American Teachers of History proposing a "theory of history" based on the second law of thermodynamics and the principle of entropy.<ref>Adams, Henry. (1986). ''History of the United States of America During the Administration of Thomas Jefferson'' (pg. 1299). Library of America.</li> <li id="_note-5">'''[[#_ref-5|^]]''' Adams, Henry. (1910). ''A Letter to American Teachers of History''.
[http://books.google.com/books?id=gaLdOOzuiKAC&pg=PA1&dq=A+Letter+to+American+Teachers+of+History#PPA10,M1 Google Books], [http://ia311517.us.archive.org/0/items/alettertoamerica00adamuoft/alettertoamerica00adamuoft.pdf Scanned PDF]. Washington.</li></ol></ref>
[edit] Further reading
- Works by Arnold J. Toynbee at Project Gutenberg
- Asimov, Isaac; Asimov's Chronology of the World; Harper Collins, 1991, ISBN 0062700367.
- Durant, Will & Ariel; The Lessons of History; MJF Books, 1997, ISBN 1-56731-024-9.
- Durant, Will & Ariel; The Story of Civilization; 11 vols., Simon & Schuster.
- Evans, Richard J.; In Defence of History; W. W. Norton (2000), ISBN 0-393-31959-8
- Gonick, Larry; The Cartoon History of the Universe; Doubleday, vol. 1 (1990) ISBN 0-385-26520-4, vol. II (1994) ISBN 0-385-42093-5, W. W. Norton, vol. III (2002) ISBN 0-393-05184-6.
- Wells, H. G.; An Outline of History; Reprint Services Corporation (1920), ISBN 0-7812-0661-8.
- The World Almanac and Book of Facts (annual); World Almanac Education Group; 2005 ISBN 0886879450
[edit] External links
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- Further reading
- Williams, H. S. (1907). The historians' history of the world. (ed., This is Book 1 of 25 Volumes; PDF version is available)
- Wells, H. G. (1921). The outline of history, being a plain history of life and mankind. (ed., This is Book 1 of multi-volume set.)
- General Information
- Internet History Sourcebooks Project See also Internet History Sourcebooks Project. Collections of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use.
- WWW-VL: History Central Catalogue first history on the WWW, located at European University Institute
- BBC History Site
