But nevertheless the
consequences of the act remain far-reaching. To walk involves a
displacement and reaction of the resisting earth, whose thrill is
felt wherever there is matter. It involves the structure of the
limbs and the nervous system; the principles of mechanics. To
cook is to utilize heat and moisture to change the chemical
relations of food materials; it has a bearing upon the
assimilation of food and the growth of the body. The utmost that
the most learned men of science know in physics, chemistry,
physiology is not enough to make all these consequences and
connections perceptible. The task of education, once more, is to
see to it that such activities are performed in such ways and
under such conditions as render these conditions as perceptible
as possible. To "learn geography" is to gain in power to
perceive the spatial, the natural, connections of an ordinary
act; to "learn history" is essentially to gain in power to
recognize its human connections. For what is called geography as
a formulated study is simply the body of facts and principles
which have been discovered in other men's experience about the
natural medium in which we live, and in connection with which the
particular acts of our life have an explanation. So history as a
formulated study is but the body of known facts about the
activities and sufferings of the social groups with which our own
lives are continuous, and through reference to which our own
customs and institutions are illuminated.
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