Science, Technology, Education and the Economy from the 1850s to 1914

Abstract

There is a broad division between historians who link apparent defects in education (particularly scientific and technical education) in this period with a perceived decline in Britain’s economic fortunes, and others who doubt whether, in fact, any avoidable decline occurred, whether any particular link existed between education and economic performance and whether, anyway, there is not (from the point of view of its contribution to the economy) more to praise than to blame in contemporary educational provision.¹