Historian and Scientist : an Essay on the Nature of History and the Social Sciences

The almost religious zeal for historical and social studies which characterizes our age, is born of a two-fold hope: that history may reveal to us our origin, and that the social sciences may reveal to us the laws of social life. This same hope explains why we feel the need of discussing our methods of research, the soundness of the material on which we work, and the reliability of our conclusions. It also explains why many historians and social scientists ask themselves whether history and the social sciences are really sciences. To this fundamental question underlying all historical scholarship, Dr. Salvemini devotes these charmingly lucid pages. PREFACE CONTENTS I. A DEFINITION OF TERMS II. INTELLECTUAL HYBRIDS III. AN ISSUE WHICH CANNOT BE EVADED IV. THE SOURCES OF HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE V. HISTORICAL SKEPTICISM VI. SELECTION AND IMAGINATION VII. BIAS AND HYPOTHESIS VIII. UNIQUE AND RECURRING FACTS IX. COMPLEXITY, MEASUREMENT, AND EXPERIMENT X. PREVISION XI. EXACT AND INEXACT SCIENCES XII. FROM HUMILITY TO TOLERANCE APPENDIX INDEX