- For an overview, see Curtis S.J. History of Education in Great Britain London 1967 and Brian Simon, Studies in the History of Education 1780–1870 (London, 1960). This is a vast topic. Some useful articles on aspects of class-based education and a guide to documentation can be found in two collections: Lawrence Stone, ed., Schooling and Society: Studies in the History of Education (Baltimore, 1976) and Gillian Sutherland, et al., Education in Britain (Shannon, 1977), respectively. On the decline of the apprenticeship system, see K. D. M. Snell, ‘The Apprenticeship System in British History: the Fragmentation of a Cultural Institution’, History of Education, 25 (December 1996), 303–21.
- For general biographical background, consult Bibby Cyril T. H. Huxley. Scientist, Humanist and Educator New York 1960 and Scientist Extraordinary: The Life and Scientific Work of Thomas Henry Huxley 1825–1895 (New York, 1970). For the most recent reappraisal of his career, see Adrian Desmond, Huxley: The Devil's Disciple (London, 1994), and Huxley: Evolution's High Priest (London, 1997). His son's portrait, Leonard Huxley, Thomas Henry Huxley: A Character Sketch (London, 1920) is more personal. The essential near-contemporary source of material is Leonard Huxley, Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley, 3 vols (London, 1908). Huxley's correspondence is in the archives of Imperial College, London.
- These ideas are detailed in Bibby's works T. H. Huxley. Scientist, Humanist and Educator New York 1960 and in David Layton, Science for the People (New York, 1973). See also Charles Winnick, Thomas Huxley: Science and Education (New York, 1964).
- Bibby , Particularly . 1971 . T. H. Huxley on Education Cambridge and Huxley (1920) cited in note 2.
- A useful survey is Rupert Hall A. Science for Industry: A Short History of the Imperial College of Science and Technology and its Antecedents London 1982
- Huxley . Life and Letters , I 167 – 167 .
- Useful studies of technical education include Michael Argles South Kensington to Robbins: An Account of English Technical and Scientific Education since 1851 London 1964 Stephen F. Cotgrove, Technical Education and Social Change (London, 1958); and two works by Gordon W. Roderick and Michael D. Stephens, Education and Industry in the Nineteenth Century (London, 1978) and Scientific and Technical Education in Nineteenth-Century England: A Symposium (Newton Abbot, 1972). Also valuable, though oriented towards chemistry, is Robert Bud and Gerrylynn K. Roberts, Science versus Practice: Chemistry in Victorian Britain (Manchester, 1984).
- Kelly , Thomas . 1970 . A History of Adult Education in Great Britain Liverpool remains the standard work.
- See Pollard Sidney Britain's Prime and Britain's Decline: The British Economy 1870–1914 London 1989 ch. 3.
- Shapin , S. and Barnes , B. 1977 . Science, Nature and Control: Interpreting Mechanics' Institutes . Social Studies of Science , 7 : 31 – 64 . see also, John Laurent, ‘Science, Society and Politics in Late Nineteenth-Century England: A Further Look at Mechanics' Institutes’, Social Studies of Science, 14 (1984), 585–619. By mid-century, many institutes' programmes appear to be a more a case of co-option of the uppermost strata of the working class to middle-class values rather than strict social control. See also Edward Royle, ‘Mechanics’ Institutes and the Working Classes, 1840–1860’, The Historical Journal, 14 (1971), 305–21.
- This can be seen clearly in the politics of one successful institute Garner A.D. Jenkins E.W. The English Mechanics' Institutes: The case of Leeds 1824–42 History of Education 1984 13 139 152
- For a general survey of state activity, consult Cardwell D.S.L. The Organisation of Science in England , revised edn London 1972 The development of science-education ideas within the Department of Science and Art are detailed in David Layton, Science for the People; the standard study of the department is Harry Butterworth, ‘The Development and Influence of the Science and Art Department 1853–99’ (unpublished PhD thesis, University of Sheffield, 1966). A succinct account of the relationship of the Science and Art Department of education is: Arnold S. Levine, ‘The Structure of Scientific and Technical Education in Britain, 1859–1899’, Economischen Sociaal-Historisch Jaarboek, 38 (1975), 300–34.
- Wemyss Reid , T. 1899 . Memoirs and Correspondence of Lyon Playfair 152 – 152 . London
- David Knight makes much the same point: ‘They [artisans] could not be trained and organized into original science; but some science would enable them to detect false reasonings and become more responsible citizens. It was an important part of education.’ Presidential Address: Getting Science Across British Journal of the History of Science 1996 29 137 137
- Huxley . Life and Letters , I 200 – 200 .
- One is tempted to identify them as the ‘artisan élite’, to use Crossick's term. The problem of defining a boundary between the working class and the emerging lower middle class (shopkeepers and white-collar workers) is a difficult one, particularly as the latter were likely mostly recruited from the former. Contemporary mechanics' institutes drew upon both groups. See Crossick Geoffrey An Artisan Elite in Victorian Society: Kentish London 1840–1880 London 1978 and his introduction to the Lower Middle Class in Britain 1870–1914 (London, 1977), 11–60.
- The rate of working-class literacy was, even in Huxley's early days as a lecturer, likely substantial. Educational reform was not the only factor. For an economic study of literacy, see Mitch David F. The Rise of Popular Literacy in Victorian England: The Influence of Private Choice and Public Policy Philadelphia 1992 basically a cost-benefit analysis dismissed by some historians. On the variety of means to acquire scientific knowledge, see D. A. Hinton, ‘Popular Science in England, 1830–1870’ (unpublished PhD thesis, University of Bath, 1979). We now have a schematic view of what the ‘popularization of science’ meant for the working class earlier in the century: see, for example, Adrian Desmond, ‘Artisan Resistance and Evolution in Britain, 1819–1848,’ Osiris, second series, 3 (1987), 77–110, and Anne Secord, ‘Science in the Pub: Artisan Botanists in Early Nineteenth-Century Lancashire’, History of Science, 32 (1994), 269–315. However, for the last quarter of the century, we are still at sea. For the historiographical implications, consult Roger Cooter and Stephen Pumfrey, ‘Separate Spheres and Public Places: Reflections on the History of Science Popularization and Science in Popular Culture’, ibid., 237–67.
- See Laurent Science, Society and Politics
- Block , Ed Jr. 1986 . T. H. Huxley's Rhetoric and the Popularization of Victorian Scientific Ideas: 1854–1874 . Victorian Studies , 29 : 363 – 386 .
- For an analysis of the political dimensions of educational reform before 1850, see Paz Denis G. The Politics of Working Class Education in Britain, 1830–50 Manchester 1980
- See Layton Science for the People especially ch. 5.
- This argument is made by Goldstrom J.M. The Social Content of Education 1808–1870: A Study of the Working Class School Reader in England and Ireland Shannon 1972 On the origin of the Irish readers, see Donald H. Akenson, The Irish Educational Experiment: The National System of Education in the Nineteenth Century (London, 1970).
- Huxley , T.H. 1910 . Collected Essays Vol. III , 45 – 45 . London
- Huxley , T.H. 1910 . Collected Essays Vol. III , 50 – 50 . London
- Huxley , T.H. 1910 . Collected Essays Vol. III , 59 – 60 . London
- Layton . Science for the People ch. 6.
- Select Committee . 1867–68 . Report of the Select Committee on Scientific Instruction , XXV : 1868 – 1868 . 57ff.
- Referring to the waste in British iron production, he argued ‘I think if working people had more scientific intelligence, they could more readily be shown what were the causes of this waste, and they would use their processes with more economy’ Select Committee Report of the Select Committee on Scientific Instruction 1867–68 XXV 65 65
- Select Committee . 1867–68 . Report of the Select Committee on Scientific Instruction , XXV : 64 – 64 .
- Herbert Spencer had already made much the same case in his collected essays Education London 1861 but, given the introduction of the Revised Code, his views had no immediate impact.
- In the event, the College was very much like a mechanics' institute in both organization and programme, with very little in the way of science tuition. Its educational functions seem to have ceased by the late 1880s Bibby Cyril The South London Working Men's College. A Forgotten Venture Adult Education 1955 28 211 221
- Huxley . Collected Essays , III 114 – 114 .
- Huxley . Collected Essays , III 393 – 393 .
- Elsewhere, discussing the lack of proper moral training in elementary education, Huxley remarks: ‘A workman has to bear hard labour, and perhaps privation, while he sees others rolling in wealth, and feeding their dogs with what would keep his children from starvation. Would it not be well to have helped that man to calm the natural promptings of discontent by showing him, in his youth, the necessary connexion of the moral law which prohibits stealing with the stability of society—by proving to him, once and for all, that it is better for his own people, that he should starve than steal?’ Huxley Lay Sermons, Addresses and Review London 1874 37 37
- Science in the elementary schools was also pressed by Huxley's assistant, Ray Lankester, who argued for more men of science on the School Board. Like Huxley, Lankester was not demanding a breeding ground for more scientists but to improve Britain's industrial competitiveness. Echoing Joseph Whitworth, he noted the high quality of American manufactures; the British, on the other hand, did not have the intelligent hands to work such machines. Lankester E. The Representation of Science at the School Board Nature October 1870 509 509 27
- Report of the Select Committee on Scientific Instruction 400 – 400 .
- Over the next twenty years, the case for science teaching was carried by Board member J. H. Gladstone, but with little impact until the coming of the Technical Education Act. See Coleman Dena Mansell Tony Science, Religion and the London School Board: Aspects of the Life and Work of John Hall Gladstone (1827–1902) History of Education 1995 24 141 158
- Report of the Select Committee on Scientific Instruction 400 – 400 .
- Playfair , Lyon . 1870 . On Primary and Technical education 50 – 51 . Edinburgh
- Playfair , Lyon . 1870 . On Primary and Technical education 49 – 49 . Edinburgh
- Huxley . Collected Essays , III 412 – 412 .
- Huxley . Collected Essays , III 418 – 418 .
- Galton , Francis . 1869 . Hereditary Genius. An Inquiry into its Laws and Consequences London Of course, in many of Galton's examples, men who excelled came from favourable family backgrounds and had opportunities to achieve success.
- Huxley . Collected Essays , III 170 – 171 .
- On examinations, see Days of Judgement: Science, Examinations and the Organization of Knowledge in Late Victorian England MacLeod Roy Driffield 1982 and, more generally, John Roach, Public Examinations in England 1850–1900 (Cambridge, 1971). The Society of Arts examination scheme originated with Revd James Booth; its foremost early champion was Harry Chester. See Frank Foden, The Examiner: James Booth and the Origin of Common Examinations (Leeds, 1989). On the Society's links with mechanics' institutes, consult A. D. Garner, ‘The Society of Arts and the Mechanics’ Institutes: The Coordination of Endeavour towards Scientific and Technical Education, 1851–54’, History of Education, 14 (1985), 255–62.
- For a general overview of issues relating to secondary education, see Archer R.L. Secondary Education in the Nineteenth Century London 1966 a reprint of the 1921 edition, and John Roach, Secondary Education in England 1870–1902: Public Activity and Private Enterprise (London, 1991).
- On its background and impact, see Stoddart D.R. “That Victorian Science“: Huxley's Physiography and its Impact on Geography Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 1975 November 17 40
- Huxley . Collected Essays , III 228 – 228 .
- Cramming seems to have been a particular feature of ‘science schools’ attached to the higher elementary schools. Day students had more timetable flexibility to prepare for examinations than evening adult students. The Department's response was to reward regular attendance and to improve inspection. See Roach Public Examinations in England 1850–1900 Cambridge 1991 ch. 8.
- Huxley . Life and Letters , III 125 – 125 .
- Huxley . Life and Letters , III 126 – 126 .
- 1870 . “ Department of Science and Art ” . In Annual Report of the Department 52 – 52 .
- See Gooday Graeme “Nature” in the Laboratory: Domestication and Discipline with the Microscope in Victorian Life Science British Journal for the History of Science 1991 24 307 341 1991
- Of 865 graduates with known professions before 1896, only 116 were teachers, most of whom graduated after 1881. Data are in Chambers T.G. Register of the Associates and Old Students of the Royal College of Chemistry, the Royal School of Mines, and the Royal College of Science London 1896 but see also Roy MacLeod, Roy, ‘“Instructed Men” and Mining Engineers: The Associates of the Royal School of Mines and British Imperial Science, 1851–1920’, Minerva, 32 (1995), 422–39.
- Wells , H.G. 1934 . Experiment in Autobiography London Of course, Wells is hardly representative of South Kensington students, but he was certainly one of the most famous.
- Huxley . Collected Essays , III 291 – 291 .
- Arnold , Matthew . 1891 . Culture and Anarchy xi – xi . New York
- Huxley . Collected Essays , III 131 – 131 .
- 1874 . Fourth Report of the Royal Commission on Scientific Instruction Vol. xxii , 21 – 22 . (C 884)
- Literacy was a necessary but hardly sufficient factor to access broader scientific knowledge. By the 1880s, the working-class literacy rate was substantial, but evidence suggests that its reading habits would rarely encompass scientific literature. Thus, the little exposure to science in elementary schools and science classes, though possibly useful for employment, would not lead to the inclusion of science into working-class mental culture. See Vincent David Literacy and Popular Culture. England 1750–1914 Cambridge 1989 compare, Mitch, ch. 3.
- Huxley . Collected Essays , III 143 – 143 .
- Huxley . Collected Essays , III 139 – 139 .
- Huxley . Collected Essays , III 157 – 158 .
- Huxley . Collected Essays , III 447 – 448 .
- See A Centenary History. A History of the City and Guilds College, 1885 to 1985 Whitworth Adrian London 1985 On Armstrong, J. Vargas Eyre, Henry Edward Armstrong 1848–1937 (London, 1958); for Magnus, Frank Foden, Philip Magnus (London, 1970). At the time Finsbury College formed, the need for strictly technological training was still felt. In 1881, Quintin Hogg opened The Polytechnic in Regent Street, the beginning of the polytechnic movement to fill the gap for formal trades instruction not provided by the other metropolitan schools. This followed the tradition of working-class institutions like the Sheffield People's College and F. D. Maurice's London Working Men's College.
- 1884 . Report of the Royal commission on Technical Instruction 317ff – 317ff . (C 3981)
- 1884 . Report of the Royal commission on Technical Instruction 320 – 320 . (C 3981)
- 1884 . The recommendations are listed in Royal Commission's repot Vol. xxix , 537ff – 537ff .
- Turner , Frank M. 1993 . Contesting Cultural Authority: Essays in Victorian Intellectual Life 206 – 206 . New York
- Huxley . Collected Essays , III 436 – 436 .
- Huxley . Collected Essays , III 439 – 439 .
- Huxley , T.H. 1890 . On the Natural Inequality of Men . The Nineteenth Century , CLV January : 1 – 23 . See also Desmond, (note 2, 1997), 256–61.
- Christie , J.D. 1890 . A Working Man's Reply to Professor Huxley . The Nineteenth Century , CLV March : 476 – 483 .
- Huxley . Life and Letters , II 243 – 243 .
- Huxley . Life and Letters , II 244 – 244 .
- Sanderson , Michael . 1994 . The Missing Stratum: Technical School Education in England 1900–1990s London
- Richards , Evelleen . 1989 . “ Huxley and Woman's Place in Science: the “Woman question” and the Content of Victorian Anthropology ” . In History, Humanity and Evolution. Essays from John C. Greene Edited by: James R. , Moore . 253 – 284 . Cambridge
- See Vernon Jensen J. Thomas Henry Huxley. Communicating for Science Newark, DE 1991 On middle-class values and industrialism in general in late Victorian times, consult Martin J. Wiener, English Culture and the Decline of the Industrial Spirit 1850–1980 (Cambridge, 1981).
- Hobson , J.A. 1909 . The Crisis of Liberalism: New Issues of Democracy 109 – 110 . London
Annals of Science
Volume 55, 1998 - Issue 3
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