"Most historical work involves an interplay between past and present. If it is good historical work, the past will have something to teach; at the least, a richer sense of the past might safeguard us against an oversimple depiction of the present. Yet it is the present that proposes the questions we ask, and the present-day contentions and excitements over [controversial matters] and their importance furnishe[s] the impetus for . . . study."
Samuel Haber, The Quest for Authority and Honor in the American Professions, 1750-1900 at 359-60 (1991).