The same forces that gave us the Model-T also gave us “Which of the following best completes the sentence?” And the multiple-choice question became an essential tool for the new educational theories of the industrial age.
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Origami, Neusis and Angle Trisection
The history of mathematics tells us that oftentimes approved technique is as much a matter of philosophical commitments and aesthetic sensibilities as it is a matter of pure utility.
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Drawing or Color, Part I: The Poussinistes versus the Rubénistes
Every age has had arguments about art and beauty that are deeply entangled in questions of philosophy, society and even morality. One of the most heated took place in France at in the late 17th century.
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Karl Marx’s Letter to Abraham Lincoln
Wait ... what??? One of the challenges of teaching world history is that events unfold in both time and space. Focus on what was happening all around the world at a given time, and you lose the ability to tell a clear story. But focus on a story as it unfolded in a particular place (say America, France, China or Russia), and you risk putting history into silos.
