[Bell Historians] Re: A trawl through the archive

[Richard Offen]

--- In bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com, "David Bryant" 
<davidbryant at h...> wrote:
> Whatever David says, people DO like history as long as it is 
> approachable, relevant and informative. Like any subject, history 
> is as dull as ditch water if presented in a dull way! 
> 
> [Whilst I agree that there is a place for this sort of 
presentation, it rather smacks of the 'dumbing down' prevalent in 
society today, where everything has to be easily comprehensible to 
the unintelligent and the uninitiated. Whilst there is certainly a 
need for this, I don't think it should take the place of traditional 
publication of academic research. I think that bell history needs a 
society and a journal, in the style of historical and archaeological 
journals. These need not be boring - many such journals are far from 
boring - but equally they should not be dumbed down.
>

Who said anything about 'dumbing down'? 

It seems to be a common misconception these days that if a factual 
piece has been written in accessible manner it has been dumbed 
down! A really skilled writer can make even the telephone book 
sound interesting! I've read some totally captivating prose in the 
most learned of historical and scientific journals.

R