Scribd
Upload
8 views1 page

History

History is the systematic study of the past, primarily focusing on human events and interpreting evidence to construct narratives. It encompasses various branches and schools of thought, employing different methodologies to analyze and validate sources. The discipline has evolved from ancient traditions to a professional field with rigorous methodologies, influencing and intersecting with other areas such as philosophy and politics.

Uploaded by

texagig507
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
8 views1 page

History

History is the systematic study of the past, primarily focusing on human events and interpreting evidence to construct narratives. It encompasses various branches and schools of thought, employing different methodologies to analyze and validate sources. The discipline has evolved from ancient traditions to a professional field with rigorous methodologies, influencing and intersecting with other areas such as philosophy and politics.

Uploaded by

texagig507
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

This article is about the academic discipline.

For a general history of human


beings, see Human history. For a general history of Earth, see History of Earth.
For other uses, see History (disambiguation).
Part of a series on
History
Carstian Luyckx - Still life with a globe, books, shells and corals resting on a
stone ledge
IndexOutlineGlossary
Key concepts
Periods
By region
Notable historians
Timelines
History portal Category
vte
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past.
As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct
narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists
categorize history as a social science, while others see it as part of the
humanities or consider it a hybrid discipline. Similar debates surround the purpose
of history—for example, whether its main aim is theoretical, to uncover the truth,
or practical, to learn lessons from the past. In a more general sense, the term
history refers not to an academic field but to the past itself, times in the past,
or to individual texts about the past.

Historical research relies on primary and secondary sources to reconstruct past


events and validate interpretations. Source criticism is used to evaluate these
sources, assessing their authenticity, content, and reliability. Historians strive
to integrate the perspectives of several sources to develop a coherent narrative.
Different schools of thought, such as positivism, the Annales school, Marxism, and
postmodernism, have distinct methodological approaches.

History is a broad discipline encompassing many branches. Some focus on specific


time periods, such as ancient history, while others concentrate on particular
geographic regions, such as the history of Africa. Thematic categorizations include
political history, military history, social history, and economic history. Branches
associated with specific research methods and sources include quantitative history,
comparative history, and oral history.

History emerged as a field of inquiry in antiquity to replace myth-infused


narratives, with influential early traditions originating in Greece, China, and
later in the Islamic world. Historical writing evolved throughout the ages and
became increasingly professional, particularly during the 19th century, when a
rigorous methodology and various academic institutions were established. History is
related to many fields, including historiography, philosophy, education, and
politics.

You might also like