History

The study of history is the study of humanity, of society, and of civilization. In its simplest definition, history is the study of the way in which present ways of doing and thinking have come about in the past.

Only in a vague sense is history prophetic; essentially history is descriptive and analytic in its approach. It seeks to describe the past to the degree that the record will allow. It is an analysis of human motivation, of those institutions that people have created to further social well-being, and of those patterns of habit and thought that make for security and stability in any age.

History is both humanistic study and social science. History deals with facts, but the facts are always viewed with perspective.