The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-06-07
AN OMNIBUS SIGN.
Continued from Preceding Page.)
Books Should Be Readable.

BOOKS SnOutQ be t1cdOdD1c.
But the converse also holds, at least
to the extent of permitting us 10 insist
upon what would seem to be the ele-
-nentary fact that book which is writ
ten to he read should be readable. This
rather obvious truth seems to nave been
forgotten by some of the more jealous
scientific historians, who apparently
hold that the worth of a historical book
/; directly in proportion to the impossi-
lility of reading it, save as a painful
duty. Now 1 am willing that history
shall be treated as branch OF science.
hut only on condition that it also re-
mains Il branch of literature; and fur
thernore, I believe that as the field of
science encroaches on the field of htera-
ture there should be corresponding
ercroachment of literature upon sci
ence; and hold that one of the great
needs, which can only be met by very
able men whose culture Is broad enough
to include Iitera -IIre as we'll as science,
is the need of books for scientific lay
r9en. We need literature Of science
which shall be readable. So far from
doing away with the school OF great
historians the school of Po1ybfuS and
Tacitus, Gibbon and Mac0ulay, we need
merely that the future writer's or his
tory, without losing the qualities wh1c
have made those men great, shall also
utilize the new facts and new methods
which science has put at their disposal.
Dryness is not in itself a measure of
value No scientific" treatise about ST
Louis will displace JoinVille. for the
very reason that JoinVille's place Is in
both history and literature; no minute
study Of the Napoleonic wars will teach
us more than Marbot-and Marriott is as
interesting as Walter Scott. Moreover,
certain at least Of the branches of SCI
ence should likewise be treated by mas
ters in the art Of presentment, so that
the layrAan interested in science, 40
less than the layman interested in his
tory. shalt have on his shelves classics
which can be read. Whether this wish
be or be not capable of realization, IL
assuredly remains true tHat the great
historian of the future must essentially
represent the ideal striVen after by the
great historians of the past. The in
dustFioIs collector of fac's occupies an
honorable but not an exalted position,
and the scientific historian who produces
hooks WhCh are not literature must rest
content with the honor, substantial but
not of the highest type. that belongs to
him who galthers material which some
time some great master shall arise to
use.
Science of Evolution.
Yet, while freely conceding all that
can be said of the masters of litera-
ture, we must insist upon the historian
of mankind working in the scientific
spirit, and using the treasure houses
of science. He who would fully treat
OF man must know at least something
of biology, of the science that treats
of living. breathing things; and espe-
cially of that science of evolution
which is inseparably connected with
the great name of Darwin. OF course
there is no exact parallelism between
birth, growth and death of species in
the animal world and the birth,
growth and death of societies in the
world of man. Yet there is a certain
parallelism. There are strange anal
hA-
How far the resemblance between
the two sets of phenomena are more
than accidental. how far biology can
be used as an aid in the Interpretation
of human history, we cannot at pres
ent say. The historian should never
forget, what the highest type of sci
entific man is always teaching us to
remember, that willingness to admit
ignorance Is a prime factor in devel-
oping wisdom of knowledge. Wisdom
is advanced by research which en-
ables us to add to knowledge; and,
moreover, the way for wisdom is made
ready when men who record facts Of
to explain their full significance, are
willing frankly to answer that they
do not know. The research which
enables US to add to the sum of COM
plete knowledge stands first; but sec
ond only stands the research which,
while enabling US clearly to pose the
problem, also requires us to say that
with our present knowledge we can
offer no complete solution.
Let me illustrate what I mean by
an instance or two taken from one
of the most fascinating branches of
world history, the history of the higher
forms of life, of mammalian life, on
this globe.
Biologists and astronomers are not
agreed as to the length of time neces-
sary for the changes that have taken
place. At any rate, many hundreds
Of thousands Of years, have passed by
since in the eocene, at the beginning
of the tertiary period, we find the
traces of an abundant, varied and
highly developed mammalian life on
the land masses out of which have
grown the continents as we see them
the advent of man substantially in the
physical shape in which we now know
him, we also find a mammalian fauna
not essentially different in kind, from
that of the present day.
Wisdom Turned to Foolishness.
Throughout this immense period
form succeeds form, type succeeds type,
in obedience to laws of evolution, of
progress and retrogression, of develop
ment and death, which we as yet un-
derstand only in the most imperfect
manner. AS knowledge increases, our
wisdom is often turned into foolish
ness, and many of the phenomena of
evolution which seemed clearly explic-
able to the learned master of science
who founded these lectures, to us now
adayS seem far less satisfactorily ex-
planned. The scientific men of most
note now differ widely in their esti-
evolution by natural selection, by mu-