History of Science Online - Course Info - Time tips - Semester at a glance - Weekly assignments at a glance - Timeline - Week 1: Exploring the Past

1. History is not memorizing dates...

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For example, our first principle of studying history (principles of studying history = "historiography") is that history is more than just memorizing dates, names, places, events. Our aim is NOT to assemble a tiresome chronicle of who discovered what, and when they discovered it, to compile some dry catalog of ever-increasing knowledge. So you don't need to memorize these details about the dates and components of Stonehenge:

Stonehenge I & II (2800 - 2100 B.C.)

• Four station stones surround a circular embankment scooped up out of a ditch running around the outside. The embankment is six feet high and 320 feet in diameter (cf. diagram, Crowe, p. 199).
• On the inner side of the embankment is a circle of 56 regularly-spaced Aubrey holes.
• A fallen so-called slaughter stone--which had nothing to do with slaughtering--lies within the circle of Aubrey holes, at one side of a 35 foot gap in the embankment, which opens toward a...
• A 16 foot high heel stone stands some distance outside.
• Two smaller circles of small blue stones (not shown) were added ca. 2100 B.C. which constitutes the Stonehenge II phase of construction.

Stonehenge III (2000 BC - 1500 BC)

• Sarsen Circle: 30 stones (made of Sarsen sandstone), 13 feet high, 26 tons each. Circle = 97.5 feet in diameter. The Sarsen Circle is not quite concentric to the Aubrey circle, but is offset enough to avoid obstructing the line of sight between two of the Station Stones.
• Within the Sarsen Circle are 15 large stones in five groups called Trilithons, arranged in a horseshoe shape that opens toward the Heel Stone. Each Trilithon is composed of three 50-ton stones about 20-25 feet high; two positioned vertically, with the other lying horizontally across the top. Many have fallen, and several other sets of small stones (not shown) were added later. Stonehenge III was abandoned after 1000 BC.

Walter Charleton, Chorea Gigantum (1663)

Take time now to skim the first few pages of the Appendix of Michael Crowe, "Archaeoastronomy" (pp. 197-200). Take a look at the section entitled "Description of Stonehenge and its Construction" and pay special attention to Crowe's diagrams. (Don't worry about mathematical details now.)

If studying history is not memorizing this information, but acquiring a basic understanding of it, then what about dates? Do you need to memorize any particular dates for this course? The answer is no, but you do need to have a basic grasp of what happened in each time period covered by this course (ancient, medieval, early modern). You will need to refer to this timeline page every week of the course, to keep oriented to the important dates and periods. You will find a convenient link to the Timeline page near the top of every page on this course website. Don't feel like you have to memorize these dates; just keep this link handy.

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  "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana, The Life of Reason, 1906

	HSCI 3013. History of Science to 17th century Kerry Magruder, Instructor, 2004-14 Brent Purkaple, TA Report typos or broken links	Go to this course at Janux spellcheck.net | wordcounter.net Many thanks to the pedagogical model developed in Mythology and Folklore and other online courses by Laura Gibbs, which have been an inspiration for this course.	Academic Calendar
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