I start Natural Science I each year with the question “What is science?” The result is generally a lively debate in which students start by giving me one-sentence answers. “Science is the study of nature”, Joe says. “What do you mean by ‘nature’?” I ask. There is consternation, silence, and eventually another attempt. “Nature… Continue reading The Right Answer
Month: April 2009
Why study Latin?
I read a lot of material on classical education, and I’ve become a little bit skeptical of much of it. In almost any given context, one question that’s sure to come up is, “Why study Latin?” Almost everyone who writes on the topic has a great passion for learning Latin, whether they really know Latin… Continue reading Why study Latin?
The Forest in the Garden
Literature often gives us pairs of similar images with sharply contrasting implications or referents. In the symbolic vocabulary of an earlier age, the garden, with all its Edenic connotations, was a symbol of safety, confinement, order, and harmony. The language of medieval love poetry is filled with gardens representing the beloved. The very term “paradise”… Continue reading The Forest in the Garden