Had I not consulted other sources, I would have been led to think that what happened at Pearl Harbour was the more significant event of the two. In order to attempt to avoid such confusion, one should compare as many sources as possible in order to discover common links. Then the information which had been influenced by the author's emotions can be detected. It is difficult to trust the objectivity of one author, especially if the material discussed could relate to him/her on a personal level. Also, in the article "What Columbus Saw' in 1492,"" we learn that Columbus's perception of the New World was influenced by his cultural background and expectations. He hoped he had landed in Asia, so everything he saw was, in his opinion, Asian, because that is what he wanted it to be. Also, he expected to find monsters in this new land, so every creature which seemed slightly unusual was described as a terrifying beast in his journals. So Columbus's point of view of what the New World should look like prevented an accurate description of what it actually was. His personal point of view affected history in a negative way, as what Columbus recorded in his journals wasn't objective at all (Cohen). So we can see that in this case, point of view is an obstacle to be overcome in the pursuit of knowledge. But is it possible for it to be an asset as well in the area of History? History books provide us with descriptions of events, including dates, statistics, names, etc What they don't tell us is the way people felt. I have read about the horrors of concentration camps during the War, but it wasn't until my grandmother described her own imprisonment in one of the camps that I acquired a greater understanding of how terrible they were. I could relate to her more than I could to a history book, so I could comprehend better how the people actually felt back then, and what they had gone through. .
Would a scientist's personal point of view help or hinder him in discovering new facts or testing theories? In the case of René Prosper Blondlot, his own opinion was an obstacle.