Sky & Telescope March 1979 [antikvár]

The Committee of 10Jeanne E. Bishop, Westlake Public Schools PlanetariumONE RESULT of the first Russian satellite in 1957 was to spur the United States to reinstate astronomy in public school instruction. Federal legislation passed in 1958 and 1%5 put large sums into curriculum programs, and the last two decades have seen astronomy partially restored to the position it enjoyed in schools through most of the 19th century. Colleges and teacher training schools had then taught h as part of "natural philosophy," and graduates of high schools and academies were aware of everyday observable astronomical events and their causes. A cycle of teaching and learning was in effect, as teachers who had studied some astronomy communicated that information to their students.But during the next two-thirds of a century, from the 1890's until Sputnik 1, astronomy practically disappeared from the schools. There was a 50-percent decline in astronomy offerings between 1895 and 1904, ahhough natural history (biolo-gy) made a slight gain during the same interval. From 1895 to 1910 the U. S. Office of Education documented a 90-per-cent decline in the number of college-bound students who had studied astronomy, while there were only 30-percent declines for chemistry and physics in an era that emphasized "education for life." By 1930, only 0.06 percent of high school students were studying any astronomy.In 1931, G. W. Myers of-the University of Chicago wrote a brief article, "Why Is Urania Languishing in Our Schools?" He noted: "We were bewailing the decline in high school astronomical interest in 1901, but it has gone on apace and consistently since the beginning of the century." And W. W. Campbell lamented in his 1920 dedication address at Warner and Swasey Observatory: "The universities, the colleges, and the technical schools of our country, and of other countries, are graduating every year hundreds of young men, ready to start upon the more seriousUNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION.REPORTCOMMITTEE ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDIESATl'OIMTr.n AT TKt lEKTISU Of THENational Educational Association July 9, 1892,WITH THrREPORTS OF THP: COXFEREXCES arranged by this Committee and held December 28-30i 1892.WASHINGTON: OOVEHNMtKT I'niNTlNG OFFITEJ aoa.Beginning astronomy courses in the 1800's emphasized the celestial sphere and coordinates. This is from E. S. Holden's Elementary Astronomy, 1899.phases of their lives, who can tell us all about the lights in our houses, but not one word about the lights in our sky."ASTRONOMY NOT RECOMMENDEDWhy did Urania languish? I am convinced the setback was due to a report issued in January, 1894, by the National Council of Education, which was part of the National Education Association. The report was hailed by the U. S. Commissioner of Education as "the most important educational document ever published in this country." It was then called the educational sensation of the new year, and by May, Harper's Weekly stated that "the enthusiastic popular reception of the Committee's report is ample evidence that the time was ripe for reform." The report was very well advertised among educators, much better than a multitude of other National Education Association reports of this period. Dozens of articles were written about it, and regional teachers' groups held conferences to discuss it."The Committee of 10" was the popular name of the team of politically powerful educators who produced the report. They were appointed at an NEA convention. Charles Eliot, the longtime president of Harvard, chaired the sessions, and the other members were college presidents, principals, a professor, and the U. S. Commissioner of Education. They in turn organized nine conferences, on all major secondary school disciplines, that met December 28-30, 1892. At these conferences, influential professors and high school teachers responded to an elaborate set of questions about including their subjects in high school curricula.Three of the conferences covered science. One dealt with physics, astronomy, and chemistry; another dealt with natural history (biology); and the third was concerned with geography including physical geography, geology, and meteorology- The Physics, Astronomy, and Chemistry Committee elected Ira Remsen, the distin-212 Sky and Telescope, March, 1979