Historiography

1
Historiography Historical Interpretation

• Frontiers of Aviation Lesson 1

2
Lesson Objectives

• Comprehend why studying history is important to
  understanding ourselves and the world around us
• Understand the Historical Approach
• Know the difference between Primary and Secondary
  sources

3
What is History?

• History is the witness that testifies to the
  passing of time it illuminates reality,
  vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily
  life, and brings us tidings of antiquity.
• Cicero

4
What is History?

• History is, indeed, little more than the
  register of the crimes, follies and misfortunes
  of mankind.
• Edward Gibbon

5
What is History?

• History is a myth we all agree to believe.
• Napoleon

6
What is History?

• History is more or less bunk.
• Henry Ford

7
What is History?

• History is something that never happened told by
  someone who wasn't there.
• Ramon Gomez de la Serna

8
So What Is History?
9
What is History?

• History deals not only with the lives of great
  individualsit may be said to consist of the
  sediment of the lives of millions of smaller men
  and women who have left no name, but who have
  made their contribution.
• A. L. Rowse

10
Why Study History

• The study of history is the best medicine for a
  sick mind for in history you have a record of
  the infinite variety of human experience plainly
  set out for all to see and in that record you
  can find yourself and your country both examples
  and warnings fine things to take as models, base
  things rotten through and through, to avoid.
• Livy

11
Why Study History?

• What is past is prologue.
• William Shakespeare

12
Why Study History?

• Those that fail to learn from history, are
  doomed to repeat it.
• Winston Churchill

13
SoWhy Study History?
14
Why Study History

• There are human truths to be derived from
  history, and truths well worth the telling, some
  large, some small, some general, some technical.
  Some, if not the most important, of the problems
  which face society today are not new onesThe
  purpose of historical investigation is to produce
  answers, in the form of concepts and
  generalizations to the fundamental problems of
  historical change in the social activities of
  men.
• J.H. Plumb

15
The Historical Approach

• How can we understand anything of other people
  or ourselves, if we know nothing of history?
  The historian shows us how change has worked in
  the past and helps us to understand the present
  and make educated guesses about the future.

16
Historiography

• Historiography is the writing of history.
• Historians vary widely in what they feel is
  significant and important about the past.

17
Historiography

• Students of history must examine not only the
  past, but those who write about it.
• Study the historian before you begin to study the
  facts.

18
Job 1 Finding the Facts

• What are facts
• Which facts are important
• The historian investigates facts and selects
  relevant ones. This is an art and not a science.

19
Job 2 Identifying Bias

• Bias is the slant one puts on things.
• It can be deliberate or unintentional.
• All writing contains bias.
• Identify it by looking at the types of words
  used. How are the words meant?
• Every age contains its own biases. These make
  understanding past thinking difficult but not
  impossible.

20
Job 3 Dispensing With the Rubbish
Identifying Important and Answerable Questions.

• Sources must be selected critically.
• Topics need to be limited.
• Primary and Secondary sources must be consulted.
• Conclusions must be based on the weight of
  evidence.
• Variations in interpretations should be
  understood and accepted.

21
Types of Sources

• Primary Sources were produced at the time an
  event occurred and are directly connected to the
  events. Examples are
• Photographs
• Memos
• Dispatches
• Cartoons
• Newspaper articles
• Art works
• Literary works

22
Types of Sources

• Secondary sources are sources produced after the
  fact looking back on the events with the
  benefit of hindsight. They offer an analysis or
  restatement of primary source material. Examples
  include
• Textbooks.
• Books about art or literature
• Movies
• Documentaries

23
Examples of Sources

• Soccer player interviewed right after the big
  game?
• Newspaper article from an eyewitness to the
  game?
• Magazine article quoting the player discussing
  the impact of the big game on their overall
  season?

24
Course Timeline
25
Lesson Objectives

• Comprehend why studying history is important to
  understanding ourselves and the world around us
• Understand the Historical Approach
• Know the difference between Primary and Secondary
  sources