Mind and Hand: Manual Training the Chief Factor in Education

Synopsis

In 1879 I read a paper before the Chicago Philosophical Society on the subject of “The Inventive Genius; or, an Epitome of Human Progress.” The suggestion of the subject came from Mr. Charles J. Barnes, to whom I desire in this public way to express my obligation for an introduction to a profoundly interesting study, and one which has given a new direction to all my thoughts. At the conclusion of my labors in the preparation of the paper, I realized the force of Bacon’s remark, that “the real and legitimate goal of the sciences is the endowment of human life with new inventions and riches.”

This work was commenced two years ago. I found the labor much more arduous than I anticipated, and its completion has hence been delayed far beyond the time originally contemplated for placing it in the hands of a publisher. It may be summarized briefly as consisting of four divisions: 1. A detailed description of the various laboratory class processes, from the first lesson to the last, in the course of three years. 2. An exhaustive argument a posteriori and a fortiori in support of the proposition that tool practice is highly promotive of intellectual growth, and in a still greater degree of the upbuilding of character. 3. A sketch of the historical period, showing that the decay of civilization and the destruction of social organisms have resulted directly from defects in methods of education. 4. A brief sketch of the history of manual training as an educational force.

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