Introduction to General Science: With Experiments (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Introduction to General Science: With Experiments (Classic Reprint)However much we may theorize, and try to impress the youth with the proper conception of man's place in nature, the individual young person will continue to consider himself as the center of the universe. Immediate needs and close surroundings are what interest him. It is not until he has learned about these, and has followed back to their sources and causes some of the phenomena which have seemed simple and matter of fact, that he begins to realize that the distant forces have more effect upon his existence than the near-by, everyday happenings. Perhaps it is well, then, at the begin ning of science study, to take his point of view, and lead him to follow each apparently simple need or desire, and to arouse in him the habit of seeking for a cause, and looking beyond the present and immediate to the future and the ultimate. It may be truly said that in a General Science course, All roads lead to Rome, for the course may be commenced any where, and it will lead to a study of all science. In fact, if the pun may be forgiven, in a General Science course, All roads lead to roam, and the pupil, after he is started, needs but to be guided. That is the purpose of this book. It is not easy to teach a course in general science success fully. There is always the temptation to specialize in some particular part, usually the part which the teacher likes best, and about which he knows most. If this temptation is not resisted, the course ceases to be general.