The Sciences

Despite the emphasis that she placed on having contact with Things, Mason was concerned about the literature. She said, “The value of this education by Things is receiving wide recognition, but intellectual education to be derived from Books is still for the most part to seek.” (Volume 3 p.214) She saw her role in science education to be primarily concerned with the proper use of books. We’ll look at some of those books today. And like our form 2 students, we’ll extend our study of science from natural history to general science. Mason liked Edward Holden’s The Sciences for form 2 general science. Holden’s book included chapters in astronomy, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and physical geography. Read the excerpt included in the Appendix or follow the link to read pp. 110-111. If interested, explore the book further. Notice that there was a great deal of overlap with natural history, but this is where physical science and technology enter the scope of study, as well. You will also notice that Mason used popular genres of her day and The Sciences was written in one of these genres.