SCIENCE AND THE CITIZEN

Walking encyclopedias who spout names and dates and other people's theories are plodding along today in the field of social sciences according to Professor Mather in a recent interview on concentration and distribution. Natural sciences not social sciences teach the student methods of thought and analysis and give him the tools to work out problems under his own steam. This is not a reflection upon the intrinsic merits of the social sciences as a field of concentration, but rather the attack points an accusing finger at the manner in which social sciences are being taught at Harvard and at many other colleges. It is the methods of teaching that must be changed, not the subjects themselves.

Take as an example, economics, a particular branch of the social sciences which in many ways is very much like a natural science. If properly taught, it should supply the student with exactly what Professor Mather desired most, methods of analysis and the tools with which to solve problems by himself. If this were done the methodology would be much like that of mathematics, and even according to Dr. Mather's conception equally good training for the mind. But at the present time, except for a few isolated instructors, the Economics department fails to do this. Instead, the theories worked out in great detail by the most eminent economists are thrust before the student, and he is asked to memorize them. Whereupon, he proceeds to do so and waits hopefully for the exam. If he learns how to think and apply economic reasoning, it is only purely incidental to the main object of memorization.

This shortcoming is by no means totally absent in the natural sciences; particularly in the biological sciences a good memory is the most essential weapon with which to fight an exam. Nevertheless, the laboratory periods counteract many evils, forcing the student as they do to solve the problem on his own by applying what he has learnt. The social sciences need "laboratory work" of the same kind. Tutorial and written papers are both steps in the right direction. Most important of all is that the teachers of the social sciences realize that their main object is not to present their field to the student on a platter for him to absorb but rather to teach the student how to learn and guide him in his study.