Abstract

The scientist Richard Lovell Edgeworth, educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and Oxford, was known for his significant mechanical inventions. He was a Member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham, where he exchanged ideas with other scientists, including James Watt. However, Edgeworth was also greatly interested in education: drawing on his own experiences of raising twenty children, in 1788 he published, with his daughter, the poet Maria Edgeworth, his famous two-volume Practical Education. The work was very influential, and led to this book, published in 1809, a series of essays on professional education, dealing with the nature of different occupations in a state. He discusses education for the professions, including the Church, the Army and the Law, but also refers to the education of statesmen, gentlemen and even princes.