Cheryl Osborne, age 12, of Keen, N.H., for her question:

HOW IS HISTORY WRITTEN?

History is a record of man's past. History is not made by soldiers or stateman but by historians who prepare the records. Many of the events of our time will probably be forgotten in a hundred years. Historians of the future will pick out and record the events of our time which seem important to them, rather than those which now seem important to us.

The science of dividing time into periods and of giving dates to historical events is called chronology. History is generally divided into three periods: ancient, medieval and modern.

Ancient history usually starts with the story of the Egyptians, Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians. From there it moves to a study of the Hebrews and Phoenicians and of the Persian Empire. Then it shifts to the Greeks and Romans.

For a long time, western historians tended to neglect the Far East. Historians now, however, are placing increasing emphasis on the histories of China, Japan, India and other countries of the Far East.

Historians can't agree where ancient history ends and the medieval period starts, but it is generally thought by many to be about A.D. 400 or 500, as the Roman Empire came to an end.

Some historians end the medieval period with the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 while others run the date up to 1492 and say the modern era started with the discovery of America. Some start modern times with the round date of 1500.

Much goes into the record that we call history. First of all, the historian must find out the events that have occurred in the past. This job is carried out by research scholars who work very much like detectives. They must find the records and question all of the facts.

The historian must compare new findings with all the facts on the same subject that other scholars have gathered. In this way he adds a little to the total of what is known. He may even correct some wrong ideas which formerly had been accepted as facts.

The reports of the research historian can be accurate and careful, but they can also be very dull. To make history readable is the work of another kind of historian called a historiographer, or writer of history.

A writer of history is himself a competent research scholar, but he cannot possibly do original research on everything he writes about. He takes the facts which research scholars dig up and then arranges them into a story. His report is a connected, interesting account of some period in the past.

The writer of history must combine several kinds of statements in his account. He must include the statements upon which research scholars are pretty well agreed. Then he must fill out the account and make a smooth story, even though they deal with matters about which nobody knows very much. As a conscientious writer, he will label guesses with such words as "probably" or "perhaps."

There is no way for a writer of history to leave out his own interpretation at times. This is why two completely honest historians may give a very different picture of the same period or set of events.