"The word science of administration has been used. There are many who object to the term. Now if by science is meant a conceptual scheme of things in which every particularity coveted may be assigned a mathematical value, then administration is not a science. In this sense only astro-physics may be called a science and it is well to remember that mechanical laws of the heavens tell us nothing about the color and composition of the stars and as yet cannot account for some of the disturbances and explosions which seem accidental. If, on the other hand, we may rightly use the term science in connection with a body of exact knowledge derived from experience and observation, and a body of rules or axioms which experience has demonstrated to be applicable in concrete practice, and to work out in practice approximately as forecast, then we may, if we please, appropriately and for convenience, speak of a science of administration. Once, when the great French mathematician, Poincaré, was asked whether Euclidean geometry is true, he replied that the question had no sense but that Euclidean geometry is and still remains the most convenient. The Oxford English Dictionary tells us that a science is, among other things, a particular branch of knowledge or study; a recognized department of learning."
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Activists from the United StatesHistorians from the United StatesAnti-war activistsPeople from IndianaColumbia University alumni
Original Language: English
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pp. 660-1
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_A._Beard
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Charles A. Beard
Charles Austin Beard (27 November 1874 – 1 September 1948) was an influential American historian. He stressed the importance of economic factors in American constitutional history. His partner was the historian Mary Ritter Beard
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