ect or the space race. Newton's writings revealed that he dismissed some ideas because he feared they would lead to atheism, not because they were scientifically unsound. Darwin was discredited because he based some of his ideas on the writings of Malthus instead of scientific experiments. Malthus' ideas were more socially based than scientifically based (174-180).The second absolute idea looked at the development of human laws and the idea that humans were being pulled forward through an orderly process of change (241). According to the book, this was an outcome of the link of history and science. "History would henceforth depend on research in archives and original sources as tests of the facts (56)." According the authors historians looked at how the passage of time changed the way societies of the past were viewed (59). During this time two ideas were introduced. The Romantic historian, Johann Herder, argued that each culture and historical period in history "had to be understood on its own terms (64)." The second idea was by George Hegel, he stated that truth depended on historical circumstances. These two ideas later resulted in many debates over the truthfulness of history.The third absolute outlined by the authors grew out of nationalism. The authors looked at the history of the United States as it was portrayed in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. The strong American Nationalism in the United States affected how history was reported. The United States history was based on the idea of equality and democracy for all. However, this was later known to be a myth. Equality and democracy only existed for, white males. The authors look at the treatment of African Americans, Native Americans, women, and the poor as examples of the myth of popular American history. The historians of the time were accused of serving America and God rather than the discipline of history (113). As the end of the 19th Century approach, the fo...
