It’s the last Sunday of 2014, and I think it is appropriate to end the year with the final stop on the “Wonderful World of Dewey” tour. As you sit at home today, ruminating about the last 12 months, or perhaps gearing up — mentally, that is — for 2015 and all it has in store for the world, this fact cannot be denied: We spend a lot of time thinking about time. Of course, this is especially true right now, what with a shiny new 2015 about to boot out old, wrinkly 2014; but, in general, humans expend large portions of brain power musing about past, present, and future events.
Since we can’t control the future, and the present is, well, now, the past becomes our touchstone. By revisiting past events, not only do we become familiar with how our ancestors experienced daily life, we also have the powerful opportunity to learn from the past, which, in turn, can guide us toward a better future. At least, that’s how I like to approach history; this doesn’t mean we all do.
One thing we can all do, though, is visit the library and spend some time — yes, time — getting to know the last category of Dewey’s classification system, the 900s. In some of my previous Dewey columns, I have described a category in broad terms, such as “religion” for the 200s, and “science” for the 500s.
Well, I’m going to do it again for the 900s. History, my dear readers, history. I’ve been going on about time and history because that’s what the 900s are all about. With the exception of the 910s, which contain books about travel and geography, and the 920s, which house biographical and genealogical titles, every other subcategory has something to do with history. From history of the ancient world to history of Antarctica, history buffs will undoubtedly find something worth reading.
