Editing Writer (section)

====Historian====
{{See also|List of historians}}
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it.<ref name="wordnetprinceton">{{cite web |url=http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=Historian |title= Historian |publisher=Wordnetweb.princeton.edu |access-date=28 June 2008}}</ref> The purpose of a historian is to employ [[Historiography|historical analysis]] to create coherent narratives that explain "what happened" and "why or how it happened". Professional historians typically work in colleges and universities, archival centers, government agencies, museums, and as freelance writers and consultants.<ref>Anthony Grafton and Robert B. Townsend, "The Parlous Paths of the Profession" [http://www.historians.org/Perspectives/issues/2008/0810/0810pro1.cfm ''Perspectives on History'' (Sept. 2008) online]</ref> [[Edward Gibbon]]'s six-volume ''[[The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire|History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]]'' influenced the development of [[historiography]].