History as a Science

History as a Science

Before the question of whether history is a science can be answered, one needs to know exactly what a science is; it's definition. When we imagine science, most of us will immediately think of experimentation, with test tubes boiling, or mechanical objects spinning around. Although this is true, this is not all there is to science. Science is a methodical discipline of studying the phenomena of the universe and recording, measuring and analysing the data. Perhaps even producing theories before experimentation, or if experimentation is not possible. For history to be a science it must follow the methods of science. Scientific method is a method of procedure that consists of systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing and modification of hypotheses. History, however, is not systematic or methodical and can not be regarded as a discipline.

At the end of the eighteenth century there were three weaknesses in history. The first was that historians did not always use primary sources in the study of history. There was a tendency to rely on secondary sources of evidence even among some of the great historians. The second problem was where eighteenth century historians failed to see that "times change" and civilisations from different eras have different aims and expectations. The third problem was that the teaching of history was not organised in a very systematic way. The main emphasis was on Greek or Roman history, or legal history. This basically says that history used to be random and unsystematic and that now it has changed. Modern historians, however, do try and use primary sources whenever they can and they are more thorough in their work, however, the study of science can not be controlled. What this means is that whereas in science one can set up an investigation, perform a controlled experiment (where there are certain aspects that are varied or maintained), and take precise readings, in history, the results are obtained as they are found. These historical results could be documents hidden away in the basement of an old house for hundreds of years, which are then found and give a slightly different view of history to what the historians thought. These findings then have to be fitted into the timeline by the historians and could end up changing the historians' ideas of reasons for why the events occurred.