Samuel Hartlib and the Advancement of Learning

Samuel Hartlib (1600-1662) came to England from Prussia. He was a member of an important group of scientists and thinkers who, during the Puritan Revolution and afterwards, hoped to revive the intellectual life of England, and by extension, Europe. Hartlib, Dury and Comenius were principally concerned with education and their ultimate aim was a science-based world view held by rational citizens. In their writings they envisaged a universal system of education for both sexes, regulated and largely financed by the state, orientated towards natural science as the implementation of Bacon's theories, with a rationalised system of language-learning, an interest in technology and a utilitarian bias towards vocational training. They showed interest in child psychology and the psychology of the learning process. Webster's long introductory essay, first published in 1970, is an important historical study in its own right.