ABSTRACT
In the eighteenth century the world of knowledge recognized no such distinctions and accepted no such boundaries. In the world of knowledge history always had an identity of its own, although in modern times local conditions shaped the scholarly development of the subject because concern with the past grew out of interests in law, politics, religion, philosophy, art, and literature, which varied from place to place. The knowledge embraced in the disciplines known in the United States as social sciences is important. In every area scholars in pursuit of knowledge and experts in the exercise of a skill have felt the call to chronicle past events within the scope of their competence. The structured knowledge organized in science may further understanding of the family, power, and wealth, but so too will other forms of knowledge which have treated those subjects for millennia.
