772 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No. 411. 



cept in evening classes, one has a set of 

 boys coming from much the same kind of 

 school, and, although perhaps differing con- 

 siderably as to the places they might take 

 in an ordinary examination, really all of 

 much the same average intelligence. Per- 

 haps I had better describe how the prin- 

 ciple is carried out in one case— the sons 

 of well-to-do parents such as now leave 

 English schools at about fifteen years of 

 age. 



It was for such boys that the courses of 

 instruction at the Finsburj' Technical Col- 

 lege (the city and guilds of London Insti- 

 tute) were arranged twenty- two years ago. 

 It was attempted to supply that kind of 

 training which ought already to have been 

 given at school, together with so much 

 technical training as might enable a boy 

 at the end of a two years' course to enter 

 any kind of factory where applied science 

 was important, with an observing eye, an 

 understanding brain, and a fairly skillful 

 hand. The system, in so far as it applies 

 to various kinds of mechanical engineer- 

 ing, will be found described in one of a 

 small collection of essays called 'England's 

 Neglect of Science,' pp. 57-67.* I am sure 



* The ideas in this address have been put for- 

 ward many times by Professor Ayrton and myself. 

 See the following, among other publications: 

 'England's Neglect of Science' (Fisher Unwin) ; 

 'Practical Mechanics,' 1S81 (Cassell) ; 'Applied 

 Mechanics,' 1897 (Cassell); 'The Steam Engine, 

 etc.,' 1898 (Macmillan) ; 'The Calculus for Engi- 

 neers,' 1897 (Arnold); 'Recent Syllabuses and 

 Examination Papers of the Science and Art De- 

 partment in Subjects I., VII., Vp, and XXII.'; 

 ' Summary of Lectures on Practical Mathematics ' 

 (Board of Education); ' Tlie Work of the City 

 and Guilds Central Technical College ' (Journal of 

 the Society of Arts, July 9, 1897) : inaugural lec- 

 ture at Finsbury, 1879; address at the Coventry 

 Technical Institute, February, 1898; 'Education 

 of an Electrical Engineer ' {Journal of the Society 

 of Telegraph Engineers and of Electricians, Sep- 

 tember, 1882) ; presidential address, Institution 

 of Electrical Engineers, January, 1892; 'The Best 

 Education for an Engineer' (Nature), October 

 12, 1899; address at a drawing-room meeting, 

 March, 1887. 



that any engineer who reads that descrip- 

 tion will feel satisfied that it was the very 

 best course imaginable for the average boy 

 of the present time. A boy was taught 

 how he must teach himself after he entered 

 works. If after two or three years in the 

 works he cared to go for a year or so to 

 one of the greater colleges, or did not so 

 care, it was assumed that he had had such 

 a training as would enable him to choose 

 the course which was really the best for 

 him. 



Old Finsbury students are to be found 

 everywhere in important posts. The ex- 

 periment has proved so successful that 

 every London polytechnic, every municipal 

 technical school in the country, has adopted 

 the system, and in the present state of our 

 schools I feel sure that all important col- 

 leges ought to adopt the Finsbury system. 

 It hardly seems appropriate to apply the 

 word 'system' to what was so plastic and 

 uncrystallized and had nothing to do with 

 any kind of ritual. 



The professors were given a free hand 

 at Finsbury, and there were no outside 

 examiners. I need not dwell upon the 

 courses in chemistry and physics; some 

 critics might call the subjects rational 

 chemistry and applied physics; they were 

 as different from all other courses of study 

 in these subjects as the courses on rational 

 mathematics and mechanics differed from 

 all courses elsewhere. The course on me- 

 chanics was really one on mechanical engi- 

 neering. There were workshops in wood 

 and iron, not to teach trades, but rather 

 to teach boys the properties of materials. 

 There were a steam engine and a gas en- 

 gine, and shafting and gearing of many 

 kinds, and dynamos which advanced stu- 

 dents in turn were allowed to look after 

 under competent men. There was no ma- 

 chine which might not be experimented 

 with occasionally. Elementary and ad- 

 vanced courses of lectures were given ; there 



