What is the history and its importance?

Answer 1

What is history? It sounds such a simple question doesn't it? But it can cause a lot of disagreement. Napoleon called it 'a myth' and Henry Ford called it 'bunk'! Other people think it is much more important, believing, like the American historian David McCullough that "History is who we are and why we are the way we are."

History (from Greek ἱστορία - historia, meaning "inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation") is the study of the human past. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians. Historians debate the nature of history and its usefulness. This includes discussing the study of the discipline as an end in itself and as a way of providing "perspective" on the problems of the present. The stories common to a particular culture, but not supported by external sources (such as the legends surrounding King Arthur) are usually classified as cultural heritage rather than the "disinterested investigation" needed by the discipline of history. Events of the past prior to written record are considered prehistory. The word history comes from the root *weid- "know" or "see". Historians write in the context of their own time, and with due regard to the current dominant ideas of how to interpret the past, and sometimes write to provide lessons for their own society. Whatever they think about the usefulness of history most people will, however, agree that history is the study of the past. In fact, historians are a bit like detectives - using evidence to find out what happened and why. This is not an easy job. You must be able to recognise evidence, decide how useful it is and come to conclusions based on what you have found out.

Chronology or putting things in the right order is very important in history. Can you imagine how confused you would be if you didn't know that the Romans arrived in Britain before William the Conquerer or that Queen Victoria came to the throne after Queen Elizabeth I? This is why dates are so important to the study of history. The most commonly used system of dating things in history is the one which we use every day that is based on the Gregorian Calendar. If you asked people to give you example of a historical record or primary source, most would people would probably mention some kind of written source. They might say official reports, files, court documents, financial papers, newspapers, old family papers or official files. All these written sources can be used by historians to find out about the past. They might not have been created for that purpose but they are still very useful.