The human science

LIKE many other words in our language, “science” has more than one meaning. It may be defined as systematized knowledge in general and also as any branch thereof. When we think of the various branches of science, we are apt to stress those like astronomy or metallurgy that are inanimate, inorganic, impersonal. Occasionally, therefore, it is well to remember that there is another science, a very human one — anthropology — the science of man himself. As might be expected from the wide range of human activities, anthropology is a very broad subject and can be here outlined only in part. In so doing, that sword of Damocles, the possibility of error, which hangs over the head of every scientist, is acknowledged at the start.