"A Short History of Scientific Education"

Abstract

IN Sir Norman Lockyer's address, under the above title, reprinted in NATURE of October 13, he is reported to have said: “Before the Reformation the universities were priestly institutions, and derived their authority from the Popes. The universities were for the few; the education of the people, except in the various crafts, was unprovided for. The idea of a general education in secular subjects at the expense of the State or of communities is coeval with the Reformation. In Germany, even before the time of Luther, it was undreamt of, or rather, perhaps, one should say, the question was decided in the negative.” … “With the Reformation this idea spread to France.”