An Address to Men of Science

An Address to Men of Science - Calling Upon Them to Stand Forward and Vindicate the Truth....

CALLING UPON THEM TO STAND FORWARD AND VINDICATE THE TRUTH FROM THE FOUL GRASP AND PERSECUTION OF SUPERSTITION; AND OBTAIN FOR THE ISLAND OF GREAT BRITAIN THE NOBLE APPELLATION OF WHENCE MANKIND SHALL BE ILLUMINATED, AND THE BLACK AND PESTIFEROUS CLOUDS OF PERSECUTION AND SUPERSTITION BE BANISHED FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH; AS THE ONLY SURE PRELUDE TO UNIVERSAL PEACE AND HARMONY AMONG THE HUMAN RACE. IN WHICH A SKETCH OF A PROPER SYSTEM FOR THE EDUCATION OF YOUTH IS SUBMITTED TO THEIR JUDGMENT. In addressing a Letter to so distinguished and so important a part of the community, it becomes me to say, that, I am not myself a man of experimental Science, neither, out of the ordinary occupations of my past life, have I ever seen a scientific experiment made in any one department of Chemistry, or Natural Philosophy; all that I know, with the above exception, has been acquired by reading and meditation. My present address is chiefly confined to those Philosophers, who study and practice the sciences of Chemistry and Astronomy. I shall endeavour to point out to them that, they are bound by duty, by common sense, and by common honesty, to make known to mankind, or, more particularly their fellow countrymen, whatever discoveries they may make to prove that the others are following a system of error, or that they are acted upon by a system of imposture. I shall make it appear plain to them, that they have not hitherto done this, and that they have openly countenanced systems of error and imposture, because the institutions of the country were connected with them; or, because they feared to offend those persons who might be deriving an ill-gotten profit from them. This subject will form the first head of my address. In my second head, I shall shew that the present system of educating children is entirely on a wrong basis, and their youthful time is so far wasted, as to leave them, when advanced to the years of maturity, in a state of comparative ignorance. I shall shew that if in their school exercises they were made acquainted with nothing but the elements of Astronomy, of Geography, of Natural History, and of Chemistry, so that they might at an early period of life form correct notions of organized and inert matter, instead of torturing their minds with metaphysical and incomprehensible dogmas about religion, of which they can form no one idea but that of apparent absurdity and contradiction, they would be prepared to make a much greater advancement in the Arts and Sciences, and to improve their condition in society much more than can be now possibly done. These shall not be altogether theoretical ideas, their practicability will reach the mind of every rational being, or he who takes the liberty to think and reason for himself. Many new plans and schemes for education are daily starting up, but the whole, of which I have any knowledge, have the above common error; for the subjects upon which our youth are taught to read and write, and those in which the dead or foreign living languages are taught, are by no means calculated to expand the mind, or to give it a knowledge of Nature and her laws; and thus the most important of all opportunities is lost, and much time actually wasted, in which their minds might be prepared for the reception and knowledge of natural and useful truths. What is the knowledge of the present school-boy, in what is called classical literature, when compared with a useful instruction 'in Chemistry and the laws of Nature? Of what use to society at large is a classical scholar? or one well versed in the ancient mythologies, for this, after all, is the chief part of classical knowledge? It neither gives a polish to manners nor teaches morality. It fills the mind with a useless jargon, and enables the possessor now and then to make a tinsel and pompous declamation in half a dozen different languages; which, if it were to undergo a translation into one language, and that which we call native, would be found to be a mass of unintelligible and unmeaning trashwords of sound, to which it would be difficult to attach an idea, and in which all correct notions are wanting. It makes a man a pedant only. Such men have been most aptly termed spouters of froth. My present object is to lay down a sketch of what seems to me a more instructive and useful system of education. I submit this sketch to the judgment of Men of Science, with an idea that every schoolmaster ought to be a Man of Science, and not a parish priest, as Mr. Brougham would have. This is the outline of my second head, on which in due order I hope to enlarge most satisfactorily. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 38379
Author: Carlile, Richard
Release Date: Dec 22, 2011
Format: eBook
Language: English