Editor’s message: textbooks for helping new generations to see further

Abstract

The best-known source of the quote ‘If I have seen a little further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants’ has been taken from a letter of Sir Isaac Newton to Robert Hooke, expressing a sort of recognition to Descartes on his studies of light. Sir Isaac Newton was a Lucasian Professor (he held the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge), so probably it is more than a coincidence that the same idea is the basis of the title of a compilation of scientific texts edited and commented by another Lucasian Professor, Stephen Hawking, ‘On the shoulders of giants: The great works of physics and astronomy’, which is about the contributions of Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Sir Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein. The reference to giants is metaphoric, recognizing the importance of the work performed by the predecessors as the base of the new findings. It cannot be another way, as the rise of civilization has depended on the capacity of each generation to remember what was learned by the previous ones. Oral and master-apprentice methods were the most common ways for passing knowledge from generation to generation, but they were limited due to the chances of forgetting or misunderstanding shared thoughts. There are many references to accidental learning, but it is likely improbable compared to needdriven research that could emerge, once again after certain learning is forgotten, with the repetition of similar experiences and reinventions along different generations. Perhaps writing is also a need-driven development so it was invented by different cultures. It was a great leap since it made it possible to transmit information through generations, despite the loss or death of those who generated it, and then have knowledge accumulation. This is the medulla of recognition to ancient people who left their legacy in innumerable documents and books. There are many factors that affect the path to reaching a high level of culture and technology to become a civilization. Knowledge generation requires people prepared to do so, it is not the available information, but the method to get data, produce information through analysis, and then have knowledge. Climbing on the shoulders of giants who left their legacy requires certain abilities and skills, therefore growing up is not fortuitous, as people are taught to seek out, and learn. The people with the necessary abilities to create inventions, apply knowledge, and generate it, are in principle formed in educative institutions, earning their academic degrees in sciences and engineering. During the process, they must learn and understand wellestablished knowledge, which has been produced over centuries. The teaching-learning process mainly depends on the student, who must assimilate the information that receives from the professor and the study material. A very important auxiliary in this process is the textbook of every subject because they compile the generated knowledge preserved over many generations.