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Now arises another critic to remind the world that education is "chaos," but with the difference that he has a pleasing remedy, albeit it is insufficient and impractical for other than self education. The new prophet is Gamaliel Bradford, popular biographer, who expounded his theory recently in the New York Times literary supplement.
In justice to Mr. Bradford let it be said that he refers to his suggestions only as a "clue which . . . may afford a certain amount of help. I mean the clue of biography." Admitting his solution does not offer intellectual discipline, Mr. Bradford says that biography has "the immense advantage of affording a natural link between the otherwise widely scattering and mutually repellent divergences of developing knowledge. . . all that makes the universe, is simply the human being. Now biography is the study of human beings, what they have been, what they are, what they may be . . . what they can do."
. . . "In short, biography is the autobiography of humanity, and if so, can there be any study of greater educational value and utility?"
Biography might not solve the whole problem of education, but a really substantial dose of it would act to make up one vital lack in most undergraduate curricula. It would help correlate the divergent fields of educational effort, and educators are coming more and more to agreement that lack of correlation is the principle fault of their trade.
At any rate, the individual who is not able to attend college or university will find one of the shortest routes to broad education through biographical works. --Daily Texan.
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