ALLEN Scientific Studies in The English Universities of The Seventeenth Century

Scientific Studies in the English Universities of the Seventeenth Century
Author(s): Phyllis Allen

Source: Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Apr., 1949), pp. 219-253
Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press
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SCIENTIFIC STUDIES IN THE ENGLISH UNIVERSITIES
OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
BY PHYLLIS ALLEN
At the opening of the seventeenth century,the program of

studiesin Oxfordand CambridgeUniversitiesfollowedthe estab-
lished medieval pattern. The sciences were studied from the
same ancient authors that had been used for three centuries. The
scientificpart of the curriculumwas narrow, not only because the
average student rarely came in contact with the work of modern
scientists,but also because half of the best ancient writers were
usually omitted. The Elizabethan Statutes of 1570 at Cambridge
and the Laudian Code of 1636 at Oxford ensured the continuance
of this pattern. No allowance was made for change. Neverthe-
less, during the seventeenth century, change took place. The
newly-begunscientificmovementgained prestige as the brilliant
work of unusually large numbers of highly gifted men aroused
genuine interest in scientific activity. This trend eventually
brought about a vastly differentattitude towards the study of
science in the universities. It is the purpose of this paper to con-
sider the degree to which the sciences became available to the
average universityundergraduate in the "Century of Genius."'
I
The studies and conduct of the student at both Oxford and
Cambridge Universities were strictlyregulated by the University
Statutes and by those of the college in which he was enrolled.
These regulations covered'everythingfromthe election of univer-
sity officersto what type of clothingwas to be worn. The scho-
lastic sections were brief, but to the point, and they were inter-
preted literally.
Cambridge studies throughoutthe seventeenth century were
governedby the Elizabethan Statutes of 1570. According to these
rules, the undergraduate in Arts must reside in the Universityfor
at least twelve terms, and attend all the public lectures in his
faculty. He was required to studv rhetoricin his firstyear, dia-
' The studyof medicinehas been deliberatelyomitted. See PhyllisAllen,"Med-
ical Education in 17th centuryEngland," JouLrnalof the History of Medicine and
the Allied Sciences I, 1. January,1946
219

220 PHYLLIS ALLEN
lecties in his second year, and philosophy and other liberal arts in
his last year. In addition,he was expected to dispute and respond
several times in the public schools. The professors of the Uni-
versitywere directedby the Statutes to lecture "at least four days
a week, Viz. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday." If
any professor preferredto lecture on days other than those pre-
scribedhe had to informhis hearers " at the end of the lecture just
preceding." Moreover,these lecturerswere finedif theyfailed to
lecture,or provide a substitute,and studentswere finedfor not at-
tending the lectures. The subject matter of the professor's lec-
tures was also determinedby statute. The philosophy professor
had to "teach publicly the Problemata, Moralia and Politics of
Aristotle, and the work of Pliny and Plato. . . The mathe-
matics professor,if teachingcosmography,was required to "inter-
pret Mela, Pliny, Strabo or Plato; if arithmetic,Tonstall or Car-
danus, etc.; if geometry,Euclid, if astronomy,Ptolemy." These
limitations offeredthe professors little opportunityto introduce
new authors. In order to secure a Master of Arts degree, the
studenthad to attend lectures in philosophy,astronomy,perspec-
tive, and Greek, and to " finishwith industrywhat has once been
begun." He was required to respond three times to a Master,
twice to another Bachelor, and make one declamation. The resi-
dence requirementfor this degree was threeyears. Furthermore,
the newly-electedMaster of Arts became a Regent-Master for a
period of fiveyears, during which he had to take part in a series
of disputations.2 Most of these men proceeded to furtherdegrees
in theology or in medicine.
The individual colleges at Cambridge also had statutes, which
in some instances had a bearing on the student's academic life. At
Clare College, the firstclass read Aristotle, including,as science,
his Physica, De Caelo, and De Anima. Third year students read
Porphyryand more Aristotle. The second and fourthclasses did
not read any science. At King's College, two scholars were per-
mittedto study astronomy. Queens College required one Censor
to read a few lectures in mathematics. logic. and philosophv to
2 Statuta Reginae Elizabethae, 1570, Cap. III-VII. Publishedin GeorgeDyer,
Privileges of the Universityof Cambridge (London, 1824), I, and in Documents
Relating to the Universityand Colleges of Cambridge (London, 1852), I. Statutes
translatedfor the author by Dr. Dorothy Schullian of the Army Medical Library,
ClevelandBranch.

SCIENCE IN ENGLISH UNIVERSITIES OF 17TH CENTURY 221
the Fellows, Bachelors and Scholars. Jesus College had a lecture
in mathematics,and one in natural or moral philosophy, as well
as disputations in these subjects. In St. John's College, there
were examinations in mathematicsand philosophy. Trinity Col-
lege had a lecturer in mathematics,and towards the end of the
century,students were directed to study arithmetic,geometry,
astronomy,Newton's Principia and moral or natural philosophy.3
In the colleges, as in the University, the students followed the
letter of the law rather than its spirit.
Until the early nineteenthcentury,studies in Oxford Univer-
sity were governed by the Laudian Statutes of 1636 (Caroline
Code). These regulations were designed to enliven and improve
Univer'sity education according to the best Royalist and High
Church precepts. Archbishop Laud himself,being a churchman,
naturallypaid more attentionto theological studies, and, as far as
the studyof sciencewas concerned,his Statutes had a blightingand
discouraging effect,for the simple reason that theymade no allow-
ance for change.
According to the Statutes, studentsin the facultyof Arts were
directedto spend fouryears or sixteenterms" in the studyof Arts
and in diligent attendance,according to the exigence of the stat-
utes, upon the public lectures withinthe University." Every lec-
turerwas required to lecturepersonally for at least three-quarters
of an hour. Moreover, the lectures were not to be delivered hur-
riedly,but slowly and clearly so that the hearers could take them
down in writing,as, in fact, all below the degree of Master were
required to do. When the lecture was over the professors had to
"wait for a time in the schools, and if any scholar or hearer
wishe[d] to argue against what they [had] said at lecture,or en-
tertain[ed] any doubts on any point" they had to listen "with
kindness,and answer the difficultiesand doubts proposed to them."
The student, in turn, had "in private diligently to peruse the
3Statuta et OrdinationesCollegii sive Aulae de Clare, DocumentsRelating to
the Universityand Collegesof Cambridge,II, 173; King's College Statutes,ibid.,II,
483-4; Statuta Collegii Reginalis apud Cantabrigienses(1559), ibid., III, 44, 51;
Statuta Collegii Beatae Mariae Virginis, . . . vulgariternuneipati Collegii Jesu,
ibid., III, 109; Statuta Collegii divi JohannisEvangelistae Cantabrigiae,ibid., III,
263; Statuta Collegii Sancti et Individuae Trinitatisin Academia Cantabrigiensia
Rege Henrico octavo fundati,ibid., III, 423.

222 PHYLLIS ALLEN
author whomthe public professorin each facultyha [d] undertaken

to explain."4
In the undergraduate course leading to the Bachelor's degree
the subjects to be studied included grammar, which was mainly
grammar explained from Priscianus and Linacre; rhetoric, for
which Aristotle, Cicero, Quintilian and Hermogenes were used;
logic, from Porphyry and Aristotle; moral philosophy,which in-
cluded Aristotle's politics, economics, and Nicomachean ethics;
geometryand Greek. In petitioningfor his degree, the student
stated that his qualifications would "sufficefor his admission to
lecture on every book of Aristotle's logic, and on those arts, be-
sides, which he [was] bound by the statutes to have attended."
The candidate for a Master's degree had to studythreemore years
or twelve terms,attend the public lectures,and make the required
number of disputations. His course of studies included more
Greek, which was to be studied from Homer, Demosthenes, Iso-
crates, and Euripides; Aristotelian metaphysics; more geometry;
astronomy; natural philosophy; Hebrew, using the Bible as a
text,and history using Lucius Florus and other ancients. Before
receivinghis License in Arts, the candidate had "to read cursorily
certain prescribedbooks." Each candidate had to give six solemn
formal lectures in the public schools, "three upon natural and
three upon moral philosophy." These lectures,whichlasted "for
the greater part of an hour," were to be of the student's own
composition"without borrowingthem fromelsewhere,or writing
them out of authors. "5
In addition to the University Statutes, the various colleges of
Oxford had theirown statutes and prescribed studies, which some-
times included science and mathematics. At New College, two
scholars were allowed to study astronomy,and after the AMaster's
4 Oxford UniversityStatutes, trans. G. R. M. Ward (London, 1845), I, The
Caroline Code or Laudian Statutes,promulgatedA.D. 1636. Title VI, Section I,

Chapter I, Title IV, Sect. 2, Chap. I, Title IV, Sect. 2, Chap. 4, Title V, Chap. 3.
5 Title IV, Sect. 1, Chap. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Title IX, Sect. 3, Chap. 4, Title VI, Sect.
2, Chap. 1, Title IV, Sect, 2, Chap. 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 (the booksused in the sciences
are consideredbelow), Title VI, Sect. 2, Chap. 13. Charles Morton says that "in
after Times these solennes Lectiones came to be perfunctory,so that no Hearers
came, and theyread only to the Walls, whencethey got the scurvyname of Wall
Lectures." Paper by Mortonin Edmund Calamy, A Continuationof the Account
of Ministers,Lecturers,Mastersand Fellows of Colleges . . . Ejected . . . afterthe
Restorationin 1660.... (London, 1727), I, 184.

degree they were permittedto spend another three years in the

facultyof astronomyas others did in theologyor medicine. Cor-
pus Christi College had a Public Lecturer in Humanity, who,
among other things,lectured on Pliny's Natural History. In the
same college,those studyingfor the Master's degree had to dispute
in logic, natural philosophyor metaphysics,and moral philosophy.
In Brasenose College, Sir JohnPort had founded a Readership in
Philosophy in 1560, and the candidates for Master's degrees were
required to study philosophy for three years. Presumably this
included natural as well as moral philosophy. In the Magdalen
College Statutes of 1459, allowance had been made for one holder
of a Master's degree to read publicly lectures in natural philoso-
phy. The St. John's College Statutes provided for a lecture in
natural philosophy or metaphysics,and undergraduates were in-
structedto study and dispute in liberal arts, which included nat-
ural philosophy. In Jesus College, Bachelors of Arts had to dis-
pute in either natural or moral philosophy. Pembroke College
had a natural philosophy lecture,which was to be attended by all
non-graduates in the higher class. This lecture took place three
days a week and the hearers disputed four days a week on topics
in natural philosophy.6
As a rule, the tutorrather than the college had the greatest in-
fluence upon the student's work. A good tutor could do much
for his pupil by making wise choices in the question of reading
matter. Most tutors were not interestedin the new experimental
sciences, and some even overlooked the work of ancient scientists.
One Cambridgetutorinsisted that " Mathematicsand Natural Phi-
losophy [were] not to be hurried.'?7 Judgingby the small amount
6 Liber StatutorumCollegii Beatae Mariae Wintoniae in Oxonia, Vulgariter
Nuncipati New College, (1631) Rubrica 1, p. 4; R. 26, p. 51; Statutes of Corpus
ChristiCollege (1517), Cap. 21, 23, pp. 48, 57; Statuta Aulae Regiae et Collegii de
Brasenose in Oxonio (1521), Cap. XI, p. 16; Abstracts of Compositions,p. 50;
Statuta CollegiiBeatae Mariae Magdalenae Oxoniensis,condita MCCCCLIX, p. 47;
Statuta Omnia Collegii Sancti JohannisBaptistae, in Academia Oxonii (1555), pp.
54, 56, 57; Statuta Collegii Jesu infraUniversitatemOxoniae (1622), p. 59; Statuta
Collegii Pembrochiaein UniversitateOxoniensi (1626), p. 14; in Statutes of the
Colleges of OxfordwithRoyal Patents of Foundation, Injunctions of the Visitors,
and Catalogues of DocumentsRelating to the University,Preserved in the Public
Record Office(Oxford and London, 1853), Vols. I, II, III.
7 John Wallis, "Letter Against Mr. Maidwell, 1700," Collectanae First Series,
ed. C. R. L. Fletcher,Oxford,1885, Pt. 6, 301. Oxford Historical Society Series.

224 PHYLLIS ALLEN
of either that the average student seems to have learned, most

tutors must rarely have found time to pursue these studies in an
unhurriedmanner.
The scientificclassical works customarily prescribed as text-
books were Aristotle's physical,astronomicaland biological works,
Ptolemy,Euclid, Pliny, Theophrastus,Vitruvius,Plato 's Timaeus,
and Seneca's works. John Milton, the poet, took his pupils
throughthe philosophical poems of Manilius and Lucretius as well.
At Oxford,where the statutes prescribed Aristotle as the text in
logic, the students used Robert Sanderson's Logicae Artis Com-
pendium (Oxford, 1635). Cambridge men used a slightly more
modernbook writtenby Ramus (Pierre de la Ramee). The stand-
ard textbooksfor the elementsof astronomywere Diadochus Pro-
clus' Sphaera and John de Sacrobosco 's De Sphaera Mundi,
thoughneitherwas veryaccurate.8
Aside fromthese classics there were a few modern texts avail-
able. In algebra, the more advanced undergraduate could read
Thomas Hariot's Artis Analyticae Praxis (London, 1631), in
which he introduced Francis Vieta's methods to England. In
arithmetic,a popular text was Edmund Wingate's Arithmetique
Made Easie (London, 1630). For geometry,Henry Billingsley's
translationof Euclid was used, togetherwith ChristopherClavius'
commentaries upon the same author, and John Speidell's Geo-
metrical Extraction (London, 1616), which John Aubrey says
"made young men have a love to geometry." One of the most
notable advanced mathematical works of the period was Henry
Briggs' LogarithmeticallArithmeticke(London, 1631). For nat-
ural philosophy,in addition to Aristotle and Pliny, students used
Francis Burgersdijck's Idea Philosophiae TurnMoralis TurnNatu-
ralis (Oxford, 1631), a book based largely on Aristotle's physical
treatises "with references to the commentaries thereon." The
geography student probably made use of Nathaniel Carpenter's
Geography Delineated Forth in Two Bookes (Oxford, 1625), or,
8 Milton's texts are referredto in John Aubrey,Brief Lives, Chieflyof Con-
temporaries,Set Down by JohnAubrey,betweenthe Years 1669 and 1696 (Oxford,
1898), ed. Andrew Clarke, II, 64. Probably Ramus' book was a later edition of
The Logick of P. Ramus (London, 1574), or his The Art of Logicke Gatheredout of
Aristotle (London, 1626). On astronomicaltexts,see Francis R. Johnson,Astro-
nomicalThoughtin Renaissance England (Baltimore,1937), 10n, 275, 329-30, Ap-
pendix A.

as a popular treatise on the same subject, the recentlypublished
Atlas of Gerard Mercator. In astronomy,the Philosophia Libera
of Nathaniel Carpenter was used. An English edition of this im-
portant text,a very up-to-datebook for its day, was published in
Oxford in 1622. A very popular, though scientificallyinferior,
astronomytext was the Speculum Mundi of John Swan.9
Even before the promulgation of the Laudian Statutes fixed
scientificstudies in classical fields, a few far-sighted men had
strivento improve universitystudies by introducingsomethingof
the latest mathematical and scientificthought. Sir Henry Savile
endowed Chairs of Geometryand Astronomyin Oxford in 1619,
and his son-in-law,William Sedley, endowed a Chair in Natural
Philosophy in 1621. The Savilian Professors might be "elected
fromamong men of good character and reputable lives, out of any
nation of Christendom" provided they had "lin the firstinstance
drawn the purer philosophy from the fountains of Aristotle and
Plato" and were well-versedin Greek and mathematics. If Eng-
lishmenwere chosen,a Master's degree was required. The duties
of the Professors were given explicitly,and these were upheld by
the Laudian Statutes:
The professor of Geometry mustunderstand thatit is his properprovince
publiclyto expoundthethirteen booksof Euclid's Elements,theConicsof
Apollonius, and all thebooksof Archimedes; .... However,as to under-
taking,or not,theexplanation of theSphericsof Theodosiusand Menelaus,
and thedoctrine of Triangles,as wellplaneas spherical,I leave theoption
at largeto bothprofessors.It willbesidesbe thebusinessof theGeometry
professor,athisowntimes. . . toteachandexpoundarithmetic ofall kinds,
bothspeculativeand practical;land-surveying or practicalgeometry; can-
oniesofmusic,and mechanics.And in explainingtheabovedepartments,
I leavetheprofessor a freechoiceof thebookswhichhe choosesto explain,
unlesstheUniversity thinkotherwise.10
These statutes were very liberal. One may observe that "geom-
etry" includes many kinds of mathematics, and much that we
would now call physics. The GeometryProfessor was instructed
9 Aubrey'snote on Speidell is found in the Lives, II, 231. Commentson most
of the English authorsof thesebooks may be foundin the same source. Mercator's
Atlas or a GeographickeDescription of the ... World, trans. Henry Hexham, was
publishedin 1636. Swan's book was published at Cambridgein 1635, 1643, 1665,
1670.
10 Statutes of the Savilian Professorships,Oxford UniversityStatutes, I, 272-
77. Chap. 2, 5.

226 PHYLLIS ALLEN
to hold classes in arithmeticat his lodgings once a week "without

any formality,and in the vulgar tongue if he thinksfit." More-
over, "in convenient season" he had to show "the practice of
geometryto his auditors . . . in the fields or spots adjacent to
the University."'
The statutes for the Astronomy Professor were also liberal:
The professor of Astronomy is to understand
thatit necessarily appertains
to his dutyto explainthewholeof themathematical economy of Ptolemy,
(usuallycalledtheAlmagest),applyingin theirproperplacethediscoveries
ofCopernicus, Gexber, and othermodern writers... provided, however, that
he maylay beforehis auditors,by wayof introduction to theareanaof the
science,thesphereof Proclus,or Ptolemy'shypotheses of theplanets,and
teach,eitherpubliclyor privately, thearithmetic or sexagesimalfractions.
It will also be thebusinessof the professorof Astronomy to explainand
teach. . . thewholescienceof optics,gnomonies, geography, and the rules
of navigationin so far as theyare dependenton mathematics.He must
understand, however, thathe is utterlydebarredfromprofessing the doc-
of
trine nativitiesand all judicial astrology In
withoutexception. optics,
gnomonics,geography,&c. I leave the professorfree to choose his
books.. . . 11
The fact that the Professors were free to choose their own books
aided in the introductionof Isaac Newton's work to the curricu-
lum towards the end of the century. Savile specificallyenjoined
"the professor of Astronomy,in imitationof Ptolemy and Coper-
nicus, and followingin their track, to take astronomical observa-
tions as well by nightas by day, (making choice of proper instru-
ments prepared for the purpose, and fittingtimes and seasons,)
and after reducing them to writing,(or at least those in which he
has the greatest confidence)to leave them in the archives . . . [of
the University]." He expressed hope that the University would
"liberally contributeall assistance and exertion towards this ob-
ject" because he thought it "the only true way of establishing
or amending the ancient astronomy.""
Savile directed that "all scholars after the completion of the
second year fromtheir arrival at the University,down to the first
11Ibid., Chap. 2, 273-4. Johnsonremarksthat the fact that the Almagest is
required is not as bad as it sounds because "a masteryof the mathematicsof the
Almagestwas, until the time of Newton,the necessaryfoundationof mathematical
astronomyfor Copernican as well as for the adherentsof the old cosmology."
AstronomicalThought,270.

year of their bachelorshipcompleted," were to attend the lectures

in geometry,"and afterwardsdown to their completeinceptionin
arts" to hear those in astronomy.12 If these statutes had been
faithfullyfollowed no Oxford student could have graduated with-
out some knowledge of the sciences. Unfortunately,at the time
the Savilian lectures were inaugurated, and for many years after-
wards, there was little interest in either geometryor astronomy
on the part of the average student,and had not finesbeen imposed
for absence at lectures they would not have attended them at all.
Moreover,the firsttwo Professors of Astronomy,JohnBainbridge
and John Greaves, were Ptolemaics, and it was not until the time
of Seth Ward (1649 ff.) that the Copernican system received the
attentionit deserved.
The Savilian Professors at least had the opportunityof ad-
vancing new theoriesif theycared to do so. The occupants of the
Sedleian Chair of Natural Philosophy met with less good fortune,
for William Sedley left the selection of the subject matter of his
lectures to the University. The Laudian Statutes limited the
Sedleian lecturerto "Aristotle's Physics, or the books concerning
the heavens and the world, or concerningmeteoric bodies, or the
small Natural Phenomena of the same author, or the books which
treat of the soul, and also those on generation and corruption.
This unfortunateruling acted to deter rather than promote study
of the modern sciences. The pre-Restoration occupants of the
Sedleian Chair never attained the prominenceof their colleagues
in the Savilian Chairs. The auditors of this lecture, like that in
astronomy,were to be all the Bachelors of Arts until they be-
came Masters.
The contemporaryview of the foundation of the Savilian and
Sedleian Chairs varied. On the whole their establishment was
received withoutcomment,thoughat that time,according to Fran-
cis Osborn, "not a few of our thenfoolish Gentry" kept their sons
away from the universitythat they might not be "smutted with
theBlack Art."'14 Fortunatelythe majority of people did not hold
this extremeview, or modern science would have been even slower
in coming to the universitiesthan it was.
12 Ibid., Chap. 4, 275-6.
13 Laudian Statutes,Title IV, SectionI, Chapter9.
14 Francis
Osborn, Advice to a Son, or Directions for Your Better Conduct
throughthe Various and Most ImportantEncountersof this Life, new ed., London,
1896, 14. Originallypublished,1656-58.

228 PHYLLIS ALLEN
Many students had the same opinion of academic scientific

studies as Savile and, even before the establishmentof the Sa-
vilian and Sedleian Chairs, those who found the curriculumlack-
ing in the type of science which they wished to learn educated
themselves independentlyof the universities. Thomas Hobbes,
who was in Oxford from 1603 to 1607, in his autobiography de-
scribed the scientificpart of his education as follows:
ThenPhysicksread,and by Tutordisplay'd
How all thingswereofformand mattermade.
The Aeryparticleswhichmakeformswe see,
Bothvisibleand audibleto be
Th'effectsof Sympathy, Antipathy.
And manythingsabovemyreachhe taughtme.
ThereforemorepleasanterstudiesI thensought,
WhichI was formerly, tho' notwelltaught.
My Phancieand MinddivertI do
WithMaps Celestialand Terrestrial too.
Rejoycet'accompany Sol cloath'd withRays
Knowby whatart he measuresout our Days;
How Drakeand Cavendisha girdlemade
Quiteroundtheworld,whatclimatestheysurvey'd;
And striveto findthesmallercellsofmen
And paintedMonsters in theirUnknown Den.
Nay ther'sa fulnessin Geography;
For Naturee'er abhor'dVacuity.15
Hobbes was not the only student who undertookscientificstudies
as a pleasant relief from his difficultacademic program. All
throughthe centuryother studentsdid likewise.
John Wallis, while still a student at Emmanuel College, Cam-
bridge (1632-40), undertookthe study of mathematics,"not as a
formal Study, but as a pleasing Diversion, at spare hours; as
books of Arithmetick,or others Mathematical fel occasionally in
... [his] way." To explain the reason for this, he said:
I had noneto directme,whatbooksto read,or whatto seek,or in what
Methodto proceed. For Mathematicks, (at thattime,withus) werescarce
lookeduponas AcademicalStudies,but ratherMechanical;as thebusiness
ofTraders,Merchants, Seamen,Carpenters, Surveyors ofLands,orthelike;
and perhapssomeAlmanack-makers in London. And amongstmorethan
15 Thomas Hobbes, "The Life of Mr. Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury,"(English
translation,1680), 3-4; in RetWniscences
of Oxfordby OxfordMen, ed. L. M. Quil-
ler Couch,Oxford,1892. Oxf. Hist. Soc. Series.

TwoHundredStudents(at thattime)in ourCollege,I do notknowof any
Two (perhapsnotany) whohad moreofMathematicks thanI (if so much)
whichwas thenbut little; . . . For the Study of Mathematickswas at that
timemorecultivatedin Londonthanin theUniversities.
What, then,did Wallis actually study? "From Logick," he says,
"I proceeded to Ethicks, Physicks, and Metaphysics, (consult-
ing the Schoolmen on such points) according to the Methods of
Philosophy, then in fashion in that University." In addition to
these studies, Wallis had the good fortuneto come under the in-
fluenceof Dr. Francis Glisson, Regius Professor of Medicine and
one of those interested in the "new philosophy," and he began
the study of the "speculative part of Physick and Anatomy; as
parts of Natural Philosophy." Wallis was the firstto maintain
the doctrineof the circulationof the blood in a public disputation.
He "imbib'd the principles of the 'new philosophy,' "and studied
astronomy and geography as well as mathematics. Jeremiah
Horrox, a contemporaryCambridge undergraduate (1632-35), be-
gan the study of astronomyindependently,and soon made obser-
vations himself. Joseph Glanvill, of Oxford, at that time "la-
mented that his friends did not send him to Cambridge, because
... the new Philosophy and the Art of Philosophizing were there
more than here in Oxon."16
Other studentswho found the curriculumstiflinglooked beyond
the universitywalls for instructionof the more modern type not
given in the formal lectures. William Oughtred, author of the
Clavis Mathematicae, gave private tuitionin mathematicsto many
Cambridge and Oxfordmen. " Seth Ward, M.A., a Fellow of Sid-
ney Sussex College in Cambridge came to him and lived with him
half a yeare ... and learned all his mathematics of him." Ward's
friend, Charles Scarborough, "then an ingenious young student
and fellow of Caius College in the same University" went with
him. "When they returned to Cambridge, they read the Clavis
Mathematica[e] to their pupills, whichwas the firsttimethat book
was ever read in a University." John Wallis of Emmanuel Col-
16 John Wallis "Letter to Rev. Thomas Smith,Dr. in Divinity,late
Fellow in
Magdalen College, Oxford. Oxford, Jan. 29, 1696/7," in Thomas Hearne, Peter
Langtoft's Chronicle,Oxford,1725, I, Publisher's Annex to His Preface, exlvii-el;
JeremiahHorrox, JeremtiaeHorroccii . . . Opera Posthuma . . . , London, 1673,
forewordby John Wallis; AnthonyWood, Athenae Oxonienses . . . , 2nd ed.,
London, 1721, II, 662.

230 PHYLLIS ALLEN
lege also studied with Oughtred, as did Sir Jonas Moore, who,
while at the Middle Temple in London, taught arithmeticclasses
in Stanhope Street."7 Later ChristopherWren, an Oxford under-
graduate, studied with Oughtred.
Cases of studentsgoing outside for advanced instructionwere
not as frequentas theymighthave been if the colleges had not Pad
withinthem some excellent young fellows and masters who could
and did give the best of instructionin the sciences. These men
transformedthe "ordinary lectures" required of themas Regent-
Masters into "advanced, specialized courses on one of the sci-
ences." This situation was not new. As early as 1570 Henry
Savile had "read his ordinaries on the Almagest of Ptolemy"
and had given other lectures in mathematics. Richard Hakluyt
had read his on modern geography, showing "both the olde im-
perfectlycomposed, and the new lately reformedMappes, Globes,
Sphaeres, and other instrumentsof this Art . . . to the singular
pleasure and general contentmentof [his] auditory."'8 Enter-
prising and enthusiastic men continued this practice. "In con-
trast with the usual perfunctoryand superficial presentation of
. . .astronomy [or other science] as was required in the Arts
course, these men often sought to inspire their pupils with their
own keen interest in that science, and to carry them far deeper
into the subject than was customary at the time. . . . The stu-
dents who showed an eagerness for furtherknowledge in the sci-
ences received much encouragement and special instruction."19
It was mainlyby means of this personalized education under capa-
ble young masters that the "new philosophy" made its way into
the university.
During the early part of the century,in spite of the effortsof
these young instructors,the universitieswere far behind the times
in science. In general, university studies reflectedthe majority
opinion of the times. Wallis himself acknowledged that mathe-
matics were not considered academic studies, and Lord Herbert
17 Aubrey, Lives, II, 108, 284, 79; Wood, Athenae Oxonienses,II, 627. The
Clavis Mathematicaewas publishedin London in 1631 and again in 1647 and 1694.
It was issued at Oxfordin 1652, 1667, 1693 and 1698.
18 Wood, Athenae Oxonienses,I, 465; Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Naviga-
tionl$,Voyages, Traffiquesand Discoveries of the English Nation.... Everyman's
Library,1901. Epistle Dedicatorie in the First Edition, 1589, 1-2.
19Johnson,AstronomicalThought,11-12.

of Cherburythoughtarithmeticonly worth knowing for keeping

accounts. He felt that geometrywas "not much useful for a gen-
tleman, unless it be to understand fortifications.. . ." Francis
Bacon perhaps overstated the case when he declared that in the
universities,"destined for the abode of learned men and the im-
provementof learning, everythingis found to be opposed to the
progress of the sciences," but he knew whereofhe spoke when he
stated, "The pursuits of men in such situations are, as it were,
chained down to the writings of particular authors, and if any
one dare to dissent from them,he is immediatelyattacked as a
spirit.1120
turbulentand revolutionary
With theinaugurationofthe Commonwealth,thisunhappysitua-
tion took a turn for the better. The Puritans "intruded" men of
liberal tendencies into the faculties of the universities. Oxford,
rather stronglyRoyalist during the Civil War, sufferedfrom a
general turningout of all the King's men. In return,widespread
Puritan reforms brought brilliant men to the University from
Gresham College in London. Cromwell had heard of the club, or
"Invisible College," as Robert Boyle called it, that had been meet-
ing regularly at Gresham College, and from it he made his new
appointments. Jonathan Goddard, Gresham Professor of Physic,
was made Warden of Merton College, and John Wilkins, Warden
of Wadham. "This Dr. Wilkins was a person endowed with rare
gifts. He was ... an excellentmathematicianand experimentist,
and one as well seen in Mechanisms and the new Philosophy....
He ... highly advanced the study and perfectingof Astronomy
. . . whilsthe was Warden of Wadham College." Two othermem-
bers of the "Invisible College" appointed by Cromwellwere John
Wallis and Seth Ward, who became Savilian Professors of Geom-
etryand Astronomyrespectively. Wallis broughtwithhimthelat-
est developments in mathematical thought,including Descartes'
analytical geometry and Cavalieri 's method of indivisibles, to-
getherwith the beginningof his own ArithmeticaInfinitorum,and,
in his own words, "Mathematicks, which had before been a pleas-
ing Diversion, was now to be my serious Study. And (herein as
in other Studies) I made it my business to examine things to the
bottom; and reduce effectsto their first principles and orizinal
20 The Autobiographyof Edward, Lord Herbert
of Cherbury,ed. Sidney Lee,
London, 1886, 27; Francis Bacon, Novum Organum,ed. Joseph Devey, London,
1853, Bk. I, Aph. XC, 424-5.

232 PHYLLIS ALLEN
causes. Therebythe betterto understandthe true ground of

what hath been deliveredto us fromthe Antients,and to make
furtherimprovementsof it.'" With Seth Ward, the new astron-
omyof Copernicusfirstcrossedthethresholdof Oxford. Robert
Boyle movedfromLondon at this timeand establisheda private
laboratoryfor himselfin Oxford.
This gatheringof intelligentmen attractedsome of the most
brilliantyoungmenin England to Oxford. LaurenceRooke left
a less-livelyCambridgeto enterWadhamCollege,wherehe studied
astronomy,and, as a formof extra-curricular activity,"accom-
panied Mr. Rob. Boyle in his ChymicalOperations." William
Neile was attractedto Wadham"for thesake of Dr. Wilkins,the
Warden thereof. . . where by the genius of him and Dr. Ward
he improvedhis native genius very muchin the mathematics."
Charles Morton,later the founderof a DissentingAcademyat
NewingtonGreen,also transferredfromCambridgeto Wadham
College,wherehe was "esteemedby Wilkinsforhis mathematical
knowledge." The mostbrilliantof all Wilkins' youngmen was
ChristopherWren. Even as an undergraduatehe made many
scientificinventionsand wrotepapers on mathematicalsubjects.
Lord Brouncker, laterPresidentof theRoyal Society,also studied
at Oxford in this period. Anothercontemporary was Robert
Hooke of ChristChurchCollege. "While therehe assisted Mr.
Thomas Willis,the Physician,in his Chymistry, who afterwards
recommending himto RobertBoyle,Esq. ... he becameusefulto
him in his ChymicalOperations." Thomas Sprat joined the
group around Dr. Wilkins at Wadham College. In describing
the groupat Oxford,he laterwrote,"ITheUniversityhad, at that
time,manymembersof its own,whohad beguna freeway of rea-
soning;and was also frequentedby someGentlemen, of Philosoph-
ical Minds,whomthemisfortunes of theKingdom,and the secur-
ity and ease of a retirementamong Gown-men,had drawn
'I"
thtither,
21 Wood, Ath. Oxon. II, 506; Wallis, "Letter to Rev. Smith,"Peter Larngtoft's
Chronicle,pref, clxiv-elxv.
22
Wood, Ath. Oxon.,II, 297, 469, 1039; "Charles Morton,"DNB; Christopher
Wren, The Life andVWorks of Sir ChristopherWren, from the Parentalia or
Memoirsby his son Christopher,special edition,London and New York, 1903, 76;
Thomas Sprat, The History of the Royal Society of London ... London, 1667, Pt.
II, 53.

Withtheadventof all thesebrilliantmenin Oxfordand their
concertedworkin science,it is no wonderthat the branchesof
sciencebeganto becomeincreasingly differentiatedunderthenew
experimentalmethodsof attack. Chemistryand botany made
theirappearanceamonguniversitystudies,and physicsdefinitely
began to be separatedfrommathematics, as is shownby the sub-
ject d'ivisionsused in thetextbooksof thetime."
The studyof chemistry was introducedinto theUniversityin
1659,whenRobertBoyle invitedPeter Sthael,a Prussian,to Ox-
ford. Sthael at once began to hold classes (private "collegia"
accordingto Wallis) "to instructsuchas desire[d] it in theprac-
tice of chymigtry."His firstclass held only threepeople, his
secondsix,buthis thirdwas large and highlystimulating.It in-
cludedJohnWallis, Christopher Wren,Ralph Bathurst,Richard
Lower,NathanielCrew,JohnLocke, and manyothers.24Sthael
continuedthese classes from1659 until 1664, when he went to
London to becomeOperatorfor the Royal Society. He returned
to Oxfordin 1670,teachinguntilhis deathin 1675.
At the same timethatchemistry made its appearancein Ox-
ford,a small circle of herbalistsgrew up independently of the
Faculty of Medicine. The mostnotedmemberwas RobertShar-
rock,who made a special studyof the growthof plants. This
group paved the way for the small but energeticschool of bot-
anists of the RestorationPeriod.
Cambridgehad no brilliantdecade of scientific activityto rival
thatof OxfordduringthePuritanPeriod,eventhoughshehad not
been quite so severelydisturbedby the CivrilWar as Oxford.
LaurenceRooke,beforehe wentto Oxford,had lecturedfor some
timein King's Collegeon Oughtred'sClavis Mathematicae. But
for the mostpart the scientistswvho graduatedfromCambridge
were largely self-taught.Universitylectureswere very poorly
attended. Robert Austin,one of Oughtred'spupils at Albury,
wrote: " I am now at Cambridge,but methinksI do but lose my
timehere,whenI comparemygains herewiththoseat Albury."
Henry Power, a Cambridgestudentunder the guidance of Sir
23 See ChristopherScheibler, Philosophia Compendiosa, 1623; John Henry
Alsted, Cursus PhilosophiciEncyclopedia, Herborn,1630; William Ames, Techno-
metria,Cambridge,1646.
24 Wallis, "Letteragainst Mr. Maidwell," Collectanea,I Pt. 6 300 315-16, 320;
R. W. T. Gunther,Early Science in Oxford, (Oxford, 1923), I, 22-23.

234 PHYLLIS ALLEN
Thomas Browne, mentionshis scientificstudies in describing his

universitywork:
My yeersin the University are wholeup to a middlebachelaur-shippe,
whichheightofa graduateI am sureoughtto speakhimindefective in any
part of philosophy.Our secondyeereof sophistry is alwaystakenup in
physicallcontemplation . . . and I hopeno materialpiecethanpassedmy
eie, an extractwhereofis not remanent in mypresentselfe. Yet I shall
(submittingto yourmaturerjudgment)reviewthe wholebodyof philos-
ophy,especiallynaturall. The pleasantnessof whichscience (had not
yourdesiresconcurred)mighthavereinvited meto thatstudy.
Isaac Barrow, after being elected a Fellow of Trinity College,
studied anatomy,botany and chemistryfor several years. Later
he read astronomy"and findingthat book and all astronomyde-
pend on geometry,he applied himself to Euclide 's Elements, and
from thence was led to the other ancient mathematicians,till he
had conquered all the difficulties of that noble science by the force
of his own genius and indefatigable labour, Mr. John Ray being
then the companion of his studies." The expense book of James
Master, another member of Trinity College, shows the type of
scientificbooks purchased by the average Cambridge student.
Between the years 1646 and 1648 he bought Francis Bacon's "Ad-
vance[ment] of Learning," John Magirus' "Physicks," Peter
Heylin's "Geography" (sic), and John Wilkins' "Mathematicall
Magic." He also bought "a prospective glasse" or telescope.25
Few new textbooks were added during the Commonwealth
Period in spite of advances in scientificstudies. After 1657, Cam-
bridge men were able to secure a new volume of Commentarieson
Ramus, which they used in addition to his mathematicaltreatises.
In the same year Richard Stokes published Oughtred's Triqonom-
25 Correspondenceof
ScientificMen of the SeventeenthCentury,ed. Stephen
JordanRigaud, Oxford,1841, I, 73. XXVI. Rob. Austinto Oughtred. Coll. Reg.
Dee. 3, 1652; A Collectionof LettersIllustrativeof theProgress of Science in Eng-
land fromtheReign of Queen Elizabeth to thatof CharlestheSecond, London,1841,
ed. J. 0. Halliwell-Phillipps,91. Henry Power to Sir Thomas Browne,MS Sloan,
Brit. Mus. No. 3418, fol. 94; John Ward, Lives of the Professorsof Greshamn Col-
lege, London, 1740, 158; The Flemings in Oxford,being documentsselected from
theRydal papers in illustrationof the lives and ways of Oxfordmen,1650-1700, ed.
John R. Magrath, Oxford,1904, Vol. I, Appendix C, 376-88. An English edition
of John Magirus' Physiologiae Peripateticae was published at Cambridgein 1642.
Heylin's Cosmrographyappeared in London, 1657. Wilkins' book was publishedin
London in 1648.

etryin English and Latin. Two years earlier Richard Billingsley,

had published a text of arithmetic,which was frequentlyused.26
Other textbooksremained the same as before.
The best scientificbooks of the Puritan Period were the popu-
lar books of the day, writtenby the best professors in the univer-
sities, and also by men such as Oughtred and John Pell who had
no connectionwith any university. Students who were interested
in learning more about science read these books in addition to the
prescribed ones. Included among them were John Wilkins'
Mathematical Magick, Seth Ward's Trigonometryand his books
on spherical astronomy;JohnPell's Idea of Mathematicks; Robert
Sharrock's The History of the Propagation and Improvementof
Vegetables; Peter Heylin's Cosmography; Nicholas Mercator's
Cosmography, and Peter Gassendus' Institutio Astronomica, in
whichwas included the work of Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Kepler
and Galileo. Some of these books were destined to become ac-
cepted as texts in their field by the latter part of the century.
Any outline of the study of science in the universities during
the Cromwellian Period should mention the projected university
at Durham. In the days of the Protectorate the residents of the
north of England wished to have a university in that area, and
both Manchester and Durham were suggested as possible loca-
tions. The Countyof Durham sent petition after petitionto Par-
liament "for the creation of a college of learning in their place."
On the fifteenthof May, 1657, Oliver Cromwell's Letters Patent
for an institutionat Durham were issued, "founding the college
. . . [which was] actually formed,and at once petitioned for the
power to grant degrees and to become a university. Oliver Crom-
well, however. died 3 September 1658. In November Richard
26
Books on Ramus: The Logicians School-Master; or a Commentupon Ramus
Logick, by Mr. AlexanderRichardson,sometimesof Queenes Colledgein Cambridge.
Whereuntoare added, his Prelectionson Ramus his Grammar;Taleus his Rhetorick
[Taleus =Omer Talon]; also his Notes on Physics, Ethicks, Astronomy,Medicine,
and Optics. Never beforepublished,London, 1657; Petri Rami Arithmeticeslibri
duo; Geometriaeseptemet viginti. A. Lazaro Schonero recogniti& aucti, Frank-
fort: 1619, 1627; Via Regia ad Geometrian. The Way to Geometry. Being Neces-
sary and Useful,forAstronomers. Geographers. Land-Meaters. Seamen. Engi-
neers. Architecks. Carpenters. Paynters. Carvers. etc. Written in Latine by
Peter Ramus, and now translatedand much enlarged by the learned Mr. William
Bedwell. Diagrams,London,1636; RichardBillingsley,An Idea of Arithmetic...,
London, 1655.

236 PHYLLIS ALLEN
Cromiwellwas petitionedfor the same purpose. Oxford and Cam-

bridge strongly opposed the grant of university powers . . .
and an order already drafted giving them was . . . suspended
[April 22, 16591. Next year came the Restoration and with it the
endowmentof Durham College revertedfromeducational to eccle-
siastical uses, and Durham had to wait nearly two centuries for
its university." Durham was intended "for all the sciences,"
and in the brief days of its existence, it is said to have offered
geography as well as mathematicsto its students. It was not in-
tended to be a school of theology,but largely a school of secular
studies. Anthony Wood mentions that Robert Wood of Oxford
was made one of the firstfellows of the new College.27 As it was
founded,Durham College would have provided keen rivalry to the
universities,and it is unfortunatefromthe point of view of science
education that it did not survive the Restoration.
In spite of the Puritan reforms,the universities still received
much criticism,both constructiveand destructive,from men who
suspected that beneath the new surface veneer of science Oxford
and Cambridge were still the same old modifiedmedieval institu-
tions. John Webster launched a violent attack on university
methods. To him, utilitywas the supreme standard for judging
the worth of educational subjects, and thereforehe approved of
natural philosophyand mathematics. He objected to the teaching
of the Ptolemaic astronomy,which he called "rotten, ruinous,
and deformed," and yet in calling upon the universities to teach
arithmetic,geometry,and optics, he seemed unaware of the new
scientificmovementthat was influencingthe universitystudies in
his day, for he insisted that these subjects had not even been
taughtfromthe ancients. Furthermore,he criticisedthe universi-
ties for not teaching enough cosmography, geography, hydrog-
raphy, topography,and the "noble and beneficial" art of astrol-
ogy. The practical subjects of "Staticks, Architecture,Pneuma-
tithmie,Stratarithmetrieand the rest" appealed to him as a par-
ticularly suitable set of universitysubjects. Webster rejected the
Aristotelian philosophy because it was "altogether void of true
and infallibledemonstration,observationand experiment,the only
certainmeans, and instrumentsto discover,and anatomize natures
The Victoria History of the County of Durham, London, 1905, I, 380-81;
27
Wood, Ath. Oxon., II, 780.

SCIENCE IN ENGLISH UNIVERSITIES OF 17THI CENTURY 237
occult and central observations; which are to be found out by la-

borious tryals,manual operations, assiduous observations,and the
like, and not by poring continually upon a few paper Idols, and
inexperiencedauthors."28 AfterderidingAristotle,Webster eulo-
gized the subjects of magic and chemistry! Such a curious mix-
ture of science and superstitionlaid his attack wide open to the
ridicule of his contemporariesin the universities,and Seth Ward
lost no time in replyingto it by means of his Vindiciae Academia-
rum (1654), in which he pointed out that conditions had changed
since Webster had been in a university.
The attack of John Hall was made more mildly, but it was
deadlier. Hall, a young Cambridge graduate, cried,
Wherehave we any thingto do withChimistry, whichhathsnatchtthe
keyesofNaturefromtheothersectsofPhilosophy,byhermultiplied experi-
enaces?Wherehaveweconstant on
reading either
quickor dead Anatomies,
or oculardemonstrations
ofherbes? Whereanymanualdemonstrations of
Mathematicall
Theorems or Instruments?Wherea promotion of theirex-
whichif rightcarriedon,wouldmultiplyevento astonishment
periences, ?29
Hall objected to the strictnessof the Statutes,whichmade it difficult

to introduceeither new studies or new methods in the old studies.
He upbraided the universitiesfor failingto take hold of the experi-
mentalmethod,and above all, he blamed that attitudeof mindwhich
had kept themsubservientto the ancients.
Some of the criticism at this time had a political basis. The
Royalists decried the decay of learning under the Puritan influ-
ence. AnthonyWood was a typical memberof this group. Said
he, "Before the war wee had scholars that made a thoroughsearch
in scholasticall and polemicall divinity,in humane authors and
naturall philosophy. But now scholars studythese thingsnot more
than what is just necessary to carry themthroughthe exercises of
their respective Colleges and the Universitie." Under the Puri-
tans the universities deserved all this criticismfar less than they
had at the time of the early Stuarts. Some of the criticism,as one
would expect, came from the ignorant. John Pell, in a letter to
Sir Charles Cavendish, refers sardonically to the layman's sus-
28 JohnWebster,AcademiarumExamen, or the
Examinationof Academies . . .,
London,1654, 41-43, 48-50, 68.
29 JohnHall, An Humble Motion to the Parliament of England Concerningthe
Advancementof Learning and Reformationof the Universities,London, 1641, 27.

238 PHYLLIS ALLEN
picion of "the superstitiousAlgebra and that blacke Art of Geome-

try.30
In general the Puritans supported experimental science be-
cause it was in keeping with the spirit of their belief in practical
or useful education. Most of the Oxford scientists appointed by
Cromwell were mild Puritans. The permanent effects of these
Puritan " intrusions" became even more obvious afterthe Restora-
tion, for when reaction set in it became apparent that scientific
studies had already gained a good footholdin the universitycur-
riculum. During the Restoration Period the gains of the Puritan
Period were quietly consolidated.
II
The Restoration Period began in the universitieswith a general
housecleaning. When the Royalists came back into power, they
proceeded to "right" things by sweeping away as much as they
dared of the Puritan modernization (including the Puritans). In
this theywere supported by the public opinion of the day. There
was again a big turnoverin the ranks of professors and fellows,
particularly at Oxford. John Wallis retained the Savilian Chair
of Geometry,but Seth Ward was replaced in the Chair of Astron-
omy by ChristopherWren, and Thomas Willis took the place of
Joshua Crosse in the Sedleian Chair of Natural Philosophy. For-
tunately,these new scientificprofessors were both prominentin
the promotion of the "new philosophy." Though for some time
tenure of professorships and fellowships was uncertain in many
instances,education in general proceeded along conventionallines.
Shortly after the Restoration, the enthusiasm of the scientists
led to the foundation of the Royal Society for the Improving of
Natural Knowledge. The proposals of Bacon had taken deep root
and the "Invisible College" of Charles I's day became the very
visible and active society of Charles II's day. Abraham Cowley,
in 1661, had suggested establishing a new college in London for
the purpose of teaching all the sciences according to the methods
of the "new philosophy." He particularly emphasized the use of
experimentsto illustrate the laws and principles of the various
30Anthony Wood, The Life and Times of AnthonyWood,Antiquaryof Oxford,
1632-1695 Described by Himself,ed. Andrew Clark, Oxford,1891, I, 423; Letters
Illustrativeof theProgressof Science,81. JohnPell to Sir Charles Cavendish,MS
Birch, Brit. Mus. 4280, fol. 101.

sciences. Unfortunately,the authors Cowley suggested (Celsus,

Aristotle,Theophrastus and Dioscorides) were scarcely more mod-
ern than those already in use in the universities. iNevertheless
the Proposition of this Royalist poet gave moral support to the
newly-formedRoyal Society.31
At firstthe universities were not very friendlyto the Royal
Society. Wood says that Oxford looked upon it as "obnoxious "
and objected to the Society's desire to confer degrees. Glanvill,
in his Answer to Stubbe, found it necessary to declare that "the
Royal Society doth in no way disturb or meddle with University-
Learning and Education." Dr. Edward Bernard of Oxford,in a
more optimistictone,wrote to John Collins that "the happy Royal
Society adjusts both [books and experiments]and I doubt not but,
in a shortwhile will approve itself so great a friend and near ally
to the Universities that by the munificenseof some members of
the noble fellowship,there may be occasion given of frequentex-
perimentsin both Universities and consequentlyof a lasting com-
merce."" Unfortunately,no use was made of experimentalscien-
tificdemonstrationsin Oxford untilthe time of David Gregoryand
his pupil, James Keill (1691 ff.).
Two new professorshipswere founded at Oxford in the Restor-
ation Period. In 1669 a Chair in Botany was established with
Robert Morison as its firstoccupant. Morison took small groups
to study "the nature and distinctionof herbs and other plants"
in the Physic Garden. Elias Ashmole founded Oxford's firstpro-
fessorship in Chemistryin 1683, in connectionwith the opening of
his museum,and Robert Plot was appointed to fillit. Plot lectured
in the laboratory on the ground floor of the Ashmolean Museum
"three times a week . . . during the time of the Chymnical Course
[one month] concerningall Naturall Bodies relating to, and made
use of in ChymicalPreparations. . . . 33 Both Plot and Morison
were very able men. Theirs were the firstnew scientificchairs at
Oxford since 1624-evidence of the increased interest in the sci-
ences.
31 Abraham Cowley,A Propositionfor the Advancementof ExperimentalPhi-
losophy,London,1661, 34-41.
32 Life and Times of Anthony Wood, I, 354 (Dee. 1660); Joseph Glanvill,
A Praefatory Answer to Mr. Henry Stubbe . . . , London, 1671; 83; Correspondence

of ScientificMen, I, 158-9. LXI, Dr. E. Bernard to Collins, Apr. 3, 1671.
I, Pt. 6, 298-99.
33 Wallis, "Letter Against Mr. Maidwell," Collectamea,

240 PHYLLIS ALLEN
The program of a typical Oxford undergraduate of the time,

Henry Fleming, who was in Oxford from 1678 to 1686, followed
the usual pattern. His course of studies is notable for the amount
of science it contains in comparison with the program of a student
in the early days of the century. Henry Fleming began by study-
ing Sanderson's Logic, as all 17th centuryOxford students seem
to have done. He also studied the works of Aristotle,chieflylogic
and ethics. Among the books Fleming took with him to Oxford
were Wingate's "Arethmetick," and Dr. John Newton's English
Academy, an introductorytext in liberal arts written especially
for undergraduates.'
Towards the end of his second year in Oxford,Fleming wrote
to his fatherthat the tutorwas reading to him froma compendium
of geometry,probably the "Fournier upon Euclid" he purchased
that year. He did not long read geometry. Six monthsafter be-
ginning that subject, he was engaged in reading "a compendiuT of
Physicks," and at the same time he used Adrian Heereboord's
Meletemata Philosophica, a text in the formof disputations in all
kinds of philosophy,which was rarely read at Oxford. Physics
was evidently of particular interest to Fleming, for among his
books in his thirdyear (1681), we findthe following (none of them
very modern ):
Polydorusde inventione rerum
PereriusPhysicks
CollegijConimbricensis Phys.
Pacius on Aristotle'sPhysics
AxiomataBedae
ZabarellaePhysicae35
34 The Flemingsin Oxford,beingDocumentsselectedfromtheRydal Papers in
Illustrationof the Lives and Ways of Oxford Men 1656-1700, ed. John Magrath,
Oxford,1904, 1913, 1924, I, 254. Jul. 15, 1678. The English Academy was pub-
lished in London in 1677.
35 Ibid., I, 295, 296, 304, 320, 326, II, 16; Henry to Sir Daniel Fleming, Dec.
1679-Aug, 1680. The Euclid was George Fournier, Euclidis Sex Primi Elemen-
torum Geometricorum Libri, CommodiusDemonstrati. . . Cambridge,1665; The
compendiumwas Francis Burgersdijck'sIdea Philosophiae turnMoralis tum Nat-
uralis ex Aristotele excerpta & Methodice disposita . .. 3rd ed., Oxford, 1631;
Heereboord's Meletemata Philosophica was printed togetherwith his Philosophia
Naturalis at Nymwegen,1665; Polydoruswas publishedin 1613; the Jesuitphysics
book in Cologne, 1603; the book of Julius Pacius and the Axiomata in 1631; and
Pererius, De communibusomniumrerum naturaliumprincipiis . . . Paris, 1579;
Jacob Zabarellae Patavini, De Rebus Naturalibus,Frankfort,1607.

The followingyearhe read moremoderntexts. One of thesewas
Gassendi'sAstronomy, an up-to-date bookembracingGalileo's Si-
dereusNuntiusand Kepler's Dioptrica. Anotherwas Christopher
Scheibler's Philosophia Compendiosa. His most modernbooks
weregeographicaltreatises,thoughhe had to studygeographyby
himselfas no academicinstruction was givenin thissubject. For
his ownenlightenment,in 1679,he boughta copyofa treatisebyan
unknownauthoron The Antiquityand Excellenceof Globes (Lon-
don,1652), and he repeatedlywroteto his fatherfor"Geography
bookeswithmaps in." In 1680he purchased" Cluveriusgeogra-
phywithoutmaps,"'as wellas '"Cellar's Atlas Minimus, " William
Pemble's De FormarumOrigine,and AbrahamGolnitz'Compen-
diumGeographicum (Amsterdam, 1643). Neitheroftheselast two
was veryup-to-date. WhenFlemingwas studyingforhis M. A.,
he read a fewveryrecentbooks,such as RobertBoyle's Natural
HistoryoftheBlood,and he purchasedcopiesofthePhilosophical
Transactionsof Royal Societyforhis father,whichhe mayhave
readhimselfbeforehe sentthemhome.
There were few scientificworksamong the books of James
Wilding,a contemporary of HenryFlemingat Oxford,and these
were no moremodernthan Fleming's. They includedPemble's
Geography, Heereboord's " Physics," JohnMagirus "IIPhysicks,"
and "Barrow upon Euclid." This last book,Euclidis Elementa,
publishedin 1655,was thestandardelementary geometrytextfor
the last threedecades of the 17thcentury,replacingHenryBill-
ingsley'stranslationof Euclid, whichhad been used for so long.
36Ibid., I, 296, 318, 324, II, 1, 26, 43, 73, 118, 126, 176. The second edition
of Pierre Gassendi's Institutio Astronomicawas published in London in 1653;
Scheibler's Philosophia Compendiosa, exhibens 1. Logicae 2. Metaphysiciae 3.
Physicae 4. Geometriae5. Astronomiae6. Opticae 7. Ethicae 8. Politicae P 9.
Oeconomicae. CompendiumMethodicumwas publishedin Oxford,1671; The first
geography text was either Philip Cluverius' Introductioninto Geography, both
Ancient and Modern, Oxford,1657, or his Introductionisin UniversamGeograph-
icam,Amsterdam,1677; the secondwas Cellar's BHarmoniaMacro Cosmica seu Atlas
Universalis. . . 1661-Magrath says this was probably an abridgment;Pemble's
De Formarumwas publishedin London in 1629 (2nd ed.). Pemble was a Ptolemaic
and in his Brief Introductionto Geography (Oxford, 1631), a standard text, he
stated "with reasonable impartialitythe argumentfor and against the rotationof
the earth,"thoughhe "assured his readers that 'the earth restethimmovablein the
midstof the whole world. "-Johnson, AstronomicalThought,329; R. W. T. Gun-
ther,Early Science in Oxford (Oxford, 1923 ff.),XI, 255. Boyle's book was pub-
lished in London, 1683/4.

242 PHYLLIS ALLEN
Wilding evidently studied astronomy and geography, for his ac-

count book contains an entry "for mending my quadrant" and
two entries "for mapps. '37
The more brilliant men in Oxford at this period did not waste
their time reading out-of-dateworks. Some, like Edmond Halley,
had progressed so far in their studies that they could write new
ones. Halley's first paper, on planetary orbits, was written in
1676 and later appeared in the Philosophical Transactions.38 Such
an achievement by an undergraduate indicates, as did those of
Jeremiah Horrox and Christopher Wren earlier, that for the
highlygifted,enthusiasmand inspiration could overcomethe scar-
cityof modernsciences in the curriculum,and, above all, that mod-
ern science in the universities depended more upon the man than
on the statutes.
The average student followed the program of the university
withoutbotheringhis head about the lack of science in it. In spite
of the fact that Wren and Wallis were still present, many men
continuedthe old practice of looking beyond the universitywalls
for their instruction. Possibly this was because the professorial
lectures had become too advanced for the student to understand.
On the other hand, it may have been that the professors,for lack
of attendants, lectured only rarely. One outside authority was
John Kersey of Banbury, who taught several classes in mathema-
tics at Oxford. He wrote a book on The Elements of Mathematical
Art commonlycalled Algebra (1673/4), whichbecame a best-seller
in its day. John Caswell of Wadham College also taught mathe-
matics to groups of students.39 Other private classes were also
held in Oxford throughoutthe century.
Towards the end of the century George Fleming entered Ox-
ford. He studied both mathematicsand natural philosophy, and
his course was somewhat more modern than that of his brother
37 Collectanea,I, Pt. 5, 259-68. "The Account Book of James Wilding, 1682-
1688."
38 "A Direct GeometricalProcess to findthe Aphelion,Eccentricities, and Pro-
portionsof the Orbs of the PrimaryPlanets, withoutthe Supposition,hithertoem-
ployed,of the Equality of Motion at the otherFocus of the Ellipsis." Correspond-
ence of ScientificMen, I, 230 ff.LXXXIII, LXXXIV, Halley to Oldenburg,July11,
1676. Halley was a memberof Queens College at this time.
39 Correspondence of ScientificMen, II, 8. CXXXI, Collins to Baker, 19 Aug.
1676; Gunther,Early Science, XI, 304.

Henry ten years earlier. Many of the books he took to Oxford

withhimin 1689 were the old style ones:
Casus Phys.
Arist.Phys.
ScheiblersPhilosophiaCompendiosa
SennertusPhys.
Sanderson'sPhys.
AxiomataBedae
Isendoorn'sPhys.2 vols.
BurgersdicijIdea Philosophiae
Cluveri Geog.40
All the physics books were Aristotelian texts.
Upon his arrival at Oxford,Fleming found that he had to buy
some modern textbooks,including "Barrow upon Euclid," Peter
Galtruchius' Mathematicae Totius, Robert Boyle's Philosophical
Essays, his Sceptical Chymist,and his tracts on "Ye Saltness of
ye Sea." He was also ordered by his tutor,Dr. Mill, "to buy by
all means" books along the lines of the "new philosophy": Ba-
con's Novum Organum, or Ralph Cudworth's Intellectual System
(1678), or John Locke's Essay ConcerningHuman Understanding
(1690). Soon after he acquired these books, Fleming purchased
William Leybourn's Cursus Mathematicus, a comprehensivevol-
ume just published, treating of arithmetic,geometry,cosmogra-
phy, astronomy,navigation and trigonometry. He also found it
necessary to buy a quadrant and a pair of compasses to aid in his
mathematical work.4' The following year he bought two more
books by Boyle, and thereafterhe seems to have studied other
subjects, probably in preparation for the ministry.
The Royal Society sanctioned the printingof many of the best
of the modern books. Sometimes the Society provided funds in
aid of publication,but often the authors had to publish the books
at their own expense. Among the new books brought out were:
Robert Hooke's Micrographia (1665), and Cutlerian Lectures
40 Flemings, III, 276-79, 282-3. Casus, On Aristotle'sPhysics, 1599; Daniel
Sennertus,Epitome Naturalis Scientiae, 3rd. ed., Oxford,1632; Robert Sanderson,

Physicae Scientiae Compendium,Oxford,1671; Isendoorn was published in 1658.
41Ibid., II, 284, 274, 290, 296-98, III, 6. Oct.-Nov. 1689, Aug.-Oct. 1690.
Galtruchius,MathematicaeTotius, . . . 1. Arithmeticae2. Geometricae3. Astro-
nomicae 4. Chronologiae5. Gnomicae 6. Geographicae 7. Opticae 8. Musica.
Cambridge,1668.

244 PHYLLIS ALLEN
(1679); John Graunt's Natural and Political Observations on the

Bills of Mortality (1662); Jeremiah Horrox's Opera Posthuma
(1673); Nehemiah Grew's The Anatomy of Plants (1682); Mar-
cello Malpighi's Anatome Plantarum (1675); Francis Willughby's
De Historia Piscium (1686); John Ray's Historia Plantarium
(1686) and Isaac Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Math-
ematica (1687). Booksellers found that scientificmonographs did
not usually sell well. Collins himself confesses: "Mathematical
learningwill not here go offwithouta dowry; the booksellers have
lost so muchby the worksof Drs. Wallis and Horrox, the Optic and
Geometric Lectures of Dr. Barrow, etc., though by Mr. Gregory
and others esteemed the best things extant,that it is no easy task
to persuade booksellers to undertake anything but toys that are
mathematical. "142
The reading of advanced books such as those put out under
Royal Society auspices was almost entirelyconfinedto experts in
science. The program of the average Oxford student had not
changed greatly fromthat used in the early years of the century,
as we have seen fromthe studies of the Flemings. The effortsof
the virtuosi of the Cromwellian Period had made it possible for
students to undertake the study of science if they cared to do so,
but few made use of this opportunity. When, after the founding
of the Royal Society,Wren, Hooke, and Boyle withdrewto London
fromOxford,as already had Ward, Wilkins, Goddard, and Rooke,
the University's scientificmovement lost most of its chief sup-
porters. It was Cambridge that became the chief haven of the
'new philosophy" in the latter part of the century.
The reasons for the ultimate supremacy of Cambridge over
Oxford in the physical sciences are fairly obvious. Oxford, even
in 1660, was still tied to Aristotle. Oxford men still began their
scientificstudies by reading Sanderson's Logic, an Aristotelian
text. Ramesian logic, based on a more modernapproach, was vir-
tually unknownthere. While some Oxford men were acquainted
with the work of Bacon and a few read Descartes, the latter was
never very popular. On the otherhand, Cambridge,withher study
of Ramus and, later, Descartes offereda much better background
for a flourishingschool of physical science. In addition, one of
42 Correspondenceof Scientific
Men, II, 14. CXXXIII, Collins to Baker, Feb,
10, 1676/7.

the greatest features of the intellectual life of Restoration Cam-

bridge was the marked attention paid to the study of Plato.
Henry More, the great Cambridge Platonist, read Descartes Diop-
tries and Meteora as well as the Discourse on Method and the
Principia Philosophiae to his students,as science, though he him-
self in his later career had given up the Cartesian philosophy.43
There still existed in Cambridge an older school of thought
that looked askance at all this modern study. Roger North of
Jesus College (1667), who was under the tuition of his brother,
the Rev. John North, remarks,"As to study there,I followed my
own appetite, which was to natural philosophy, which they call
physics,and particularlyDescartes, whose worksI dare say I read
over three times before I understood him. . . . And at that time
new philosophy was a sort of heresy, and my brother cared not
to encourage me much in it.'44 This took place in the days of
Barrow and Newton! North's mathematical studies consisted
mainly of physics and geometry,in which he read Barrow and
Fournier.
The firstnew professorship in mathematics at Cambridge, in
fact,Cambridge's firstnon-medicalscientificchair since the found-
ation of the Barnaby Lectures (1524), was founded by Henry
Lucas in 1663. The holder of the Lucasian Professorship was re-
quired to lecture once a week in term time for about an hour on
geometry, arithmetic,astronomy, geography, optics, statics, or
other branches of mathematics,and a fund was set aside for pur-
chasing mathematicalbooks or instruments.45The Statutes were
confirmedby a grant of Charles II in 1664, which directed that all
undergraduates after their second year and all Bachelors of Arts
up to their thirdyear should attend the lectures.
Isaac Barrow, the Gresham Professor of Geometry,was chosen
as the firstLucasian Professor. He was a very modest man, who
43 ConwayLetters: The Correspondence of Anne, Viscountessof Conway,Henry
More, and theirFriends, 1642 1684, ed. Marjorie Nicolson,New Haven, 1930, 393,
395, 397, 399. Nos. 242, 243, 245, 247, Henry More to Lady Conway, Sept.-Dee.
1674. The firstthreeworks-ofDescartesmentionedherewere publishedin 1637, the
Principia in 1644.
44 Roger North, The Autobiographyof the lon. Roger North, ed. Augustus
Jessopp,London,1887, 15.
45Trusts,Statutesand DirectionsaffectingtheProfessorshipsof the University,
Scholarshipsand Prizes, OtherGiftsand Endowments,Cambridge,1876, 31.

246 PHYLLIS ALLEN
seldom published his mathematical researches and sometimes re-

fused to be recognized as author of those he did publish. At his
death, there were among his unpublished works "twenty-fivelec-
tures about mathematical sciences, partly historical, partly doc-
trinal, about the several methods of invention,argumentationand
demonstration, with discourses of paralogisms, etc . . . one about
Archimedes
methodsofinvention.
" 146 Barrow's lectureson geome-
try, optics and Archimedes' method were modern and included
much original thought,but the fact that they failed to attract any
considerable audiences affectedhis conscience, so that in 1669 he
felt compelledto resign his chair to his pupil, Isaac Newton,whose
abilities he had early recognized.
Isaac Newton's preparation in science,like that of most of his
contemporaries,had been largely obtained through independent
study. His personal books (now in the Portsmouth Collection at
the Universityof Cambridge) included a copy of Schooten's edi-
tion of Descartes' Analytical Geometry(1649), with notes in New-
ton's handwriting. Two ordinarynotebooks in the collectioncon-
tain notes on other books he read as a student. One, inscribed
"Isaac Newton, Trin. Coll. Cant. 1661" is filledwith "definitions
fromAristotle's Organon, an abridgmentof the Phisiologia peri-
patetica of John Magirus . . . sentences from Aristotle's Ethicks,
Annotationes ex Eustachii Ethic., Axiomata, remarks on 'Quaes-
tiones quaedam Philosophicae,' details of the observations of the
comet of 1664" and other observations and problems that inter-
ested him. A second notebook, containing "early exercises-ex-
traction of the square and cube root, elementary Geometry,&c.
followedby annotationsof Wallis 's ArithmeticaInfinitorum",and
miscellaneous notes, is "preceded by a note of Newton's fixingby
an entryin his account-bookthe annotations [on Wallis' book] as
being in the winter of 1664-5, at which time he says he found the
method of infiniteseries." A third bound manuscript book con-
tains Newton's expenses and "a short outline of Trigonometry
and Conic Sections in Newton's own hand." In addition, during
his undergraduate days (1661-1665), Newton is also said to have
read Francis Vieta's Isagoge in ArtemAnalyticam (1591), Johann
Kepler's Optics, Oughtred's Clavis Mathematicae and the Miscel-
46Correspondence of ScientificMen, I, 148. LVIII, Oct. 1670. To Slusius (in
Collins' handwriting); II, 24. CXXXVII, Collins to Baker, 23 May, 1677.

lanies of Francis Van Schooten, thoughthese books are not listed

among his personal effectsin the Portsmouth Collection.47
As the topic of his firstlectures as Lucasian Professor, Newton
chose optics. "The lectures of Newton from January 1669/70 to
1687 inclusive with the exception of the year 1686, have been pre-
served in the Cambridge University Library. They consist of
manuscript volumes." The lectures on light were delivered be-
tween 1669 and 1672. In 1672 Collins, in a letter to Newton,men-
tions that twentyof his dioptriclectures were being published,but
later a controversyarose over them and they were not published
during the 17th century. The manuscript of these lectures was
available to studentsat Cambridge. The second manuscriptvolume
of Newton's lectures contains those in arithmeticand algebra de-
livered between 1673 and 1683. With the author's permission,
William Whiston published these lectures as the "Arithmetica
Universalis or Algebra" in 1707, using "that Copy whichwas laid
up in the Archives of the University,as all Mr. Lucas's Profes-
sor 's Lectures are obliged to be . . . whichAlgebra had been nine
Years Lectures of Sir Isaac Newton's." The third volume con-
tained the lectures of 1684-85,De Motu Corporum,and the fourth
lectures on the system of the world (1687). These last two vol-
umes of lectures contained much of the material used in the Prin-
cipia, published in 1687 through the effortsof Edmond Halley.
The Lucasian Professor's teaching load was light as he only de-
livered one lecture a week during the Michaelmas term. Newton's
courses generallyconsistedof about ten lectures a term. He never
repeated a course, and he began each year where he had left off
the preceding year.48
47 A Catalogue of the PortsmouthCollectionof Books and Papers writtenby
or belontingto Sir Isaac Newton,Cambridge,1888, 46-47, Sect. VII. The second

notebookis referredto in David Brewster,Memoirsof the Life, Writingsand Dis-
coveriesof Sir Isaac Newton,Edinburgh,1855, I, 22. The informationon Newton's
reading is available in W. W. R. Ball, A Short Account of the History of Mathe-
matics,1st ed., London, 1888, and L. T. More, Issac Newton: a Biography 1642k-
1727, New York 1934, 35-36.
48 A table of Newton'slecturesmay be found in the preface to Correspondence
of Sir Isaac Newtonand ProfessorCotes .. . , ed. J. Edleston,London,1850, preface,

xci-xcviii. More evidentlyhad access to the manuscriptvolumes indexed by the
table. The letteron the optical lecturesis in Correspondenceof ScientificMen, II,
319. CCXL, Collins to Newton,30th April, 1672. Accordingto W. W. R. Ball,
themanuscriptof the UniversalArithmeticwas circulatedin Cambridgefor several

248 PHYLLIS ALLEN
Many parts of Newton's Principia had been read as lectures

in theyears precedingits publication. William Whiston,Newton's
successor in the Lucasian Chair, mentions that in his undergrad-
uate days he had heard one or two of Newton's lectures read in
the public schools, thoughhe "understood them not at all at that
Time." Newton, in a letter to Richard Bentley, describes the
amount and kind of reading necessary before undertaking the
study of the Principia:
NextafterEuclid's ElementstheElementsof ye Conicsectionsare to
be understood.And forthisend you mayread eitherthefirstpart of ye
ElementaCurvarumof JohnDe Witt,or De la Hire's late treatiseof ye
conicsections,or Dr. Barrow'sepitomeof Apollonius.
For Algebrafirstread Barth[ol]in'sintroduction & thenperuse such
Problemsas you will findscatteredup & downin ye Commentaries on
Cartes'sGeometry & otherAlegraicial(sic) writings of FrancisSchooten.
I do notmeanyt shouldread overall of thoseCommentaries, but onlyye
solutionsof such Problemsas you here and theremeetwith. You may
meetwithDe Witt'sElementacurvarum bound
& Bartholin'sintroduction
up togetherwithCartes'sGeometry and Schooten'scommentaries.
For Astronomy read firstye shortaccountof ye CopernicanSystemin
theendofGassendus'sAstronomy & thenso muchofMercator'sAstronomy
as concernsye samesystem& the new discoveries madein the heavensby
Telescopesin theAppendix.
Theseare sufficientforunderstanding mybook:but if you can procure
Hugenius'sHorologiumoscillatorium, the perusalof that will makeyou
moreready.
Needless to say, few studentshad this kind of preparation, though
Whiston was envious because David Gregory's studentsat Oxford
used the Principia while Cambridge men, "poor wretches, were
ignominiously studying the fictitious Hypotheses of the Carte-
sian." Strange to relate, studies other than mathematics and
physicswere neglectedat Cambridge,although during the last two
decades of the centuryit was possible for students to study chem-
istryindependentlyof the Universitywith Francis Vignani.49
years-A History of the Study of Mathematicsat Cambridge,Cambridge,1889, 53,
58, 71; William Whiston,Memoirs of the Life and Writingsof William Whiston
... Written by Himself, London, 1749, 135.
49 Whiston,Memoirs,36. At the end of the centurythe Principia was required
reading at Trinity College; Correspondenceof Sir Isaac Newton and Professor

Cotes,274. No. XXII, Paper of Directionsgiven by Newtonto Bentley,respecting

At the end of the centuryinterest in the sciences had dropped
offat both universities. At Oxford,David Gregory,the Savilian
Professor of Astronomy,made a conscious effortto enliven the
mathematicalsciences. He drew up a program by means of which
he proposed to take his studentsthroughthe various sciences," ex-
plaining the propositions and illustrating them with examples,
operations, experiments,and observations."50 Few, if any stu-
dents, appear to have been interested in such a course. Gregory
also wrote a textbook for his pupils on optics, Catoptricae et
Dioptricae Elementa (Oxford, 1695).
The decline of interestin science appears to have been univer-
sal. JohnWallis, in an answer to Leibnitz, discussed "The Cause
of the Present Languid State of Philosophy":
Whatyou complainof,thatthe sublimerstudiesare not perusednow so
eagerlyas formerly, and thatNaturenowadayshas not so manydiligent
Observers, I confessis truein somemeasure:But it is notto be wonder'd
at,thatas all otherthings,
theStudiesofMenshouldhavetheirVicissitudes.
Certainit is thatin the presentage, whichis now drawingto a Period,
Knowledgeofall Kindshas metwithgreatand evenunhopedforImprove-
ments;as Physicks, Medicine,Chemistry, Anatomy,Botany,Mathematicks,
Geometry, Analyticks,Astronomy, Geography, Mechanicks
Navigation, and
(whatI leastrejoiceat) theArtofWar itself:And indeedfargreaterthan
for manyages before. For thenmen seemedto aim at nothingfurther
thanto understand whathad beendeliver'dby Euclid,Aristotle, and the
restof theAncients,withlittleconcernaboutmakinga further progress;
as tho' the limitsof the Scienceshad been fix'dby them,whichit was
presumptuous to go beyond. But aftersomefew had venturedto look
farther,otherswereencouraged to enterintothewidefieldoftheSciences.
And a newArdor,a newEffort urgedthemto attemptnewthings,and not
withoutSuccess. But whenit was no longera new thing,thisnew ardor
woreout. Nota fewofthediligentsearchers intonatureare alreadydead,
and othersmustdie soon: And thenewnessof the subjectwill no longer,
as before,excitetheyoungmento treadin thestepsoftheirPredecessors.51
the Books to be Read before Entering upon the Principia. Date probably about
July, 1691. The Mercator was probably Nicholas Mercator's Hypothesis Astro-
nomica Nova, London, 1664; Charles Henry Cooper, Annals of Cambridge,Cam-
bridge,1852, IV, 53. Vignani was made Professorof Chemistryin 1703. Nicholas
Lemery'svery popular Cours de Chymiewas used by studentsat this time.
50 Wallis, "LetterAgainst Mr. Maidwell," Collectanea,I, Pt, 6, 321-33.
51 The Philosophical Transactionsand Collectionsto the end of the Year MDCC,
Abridged and Disposed under General Heads, 5th ed., London, 1749, II, 2. (No.
255, p. 281. Aug. 1698.)

250 PHYLLIS ALLEN
Fortunately, this decline in the sciences was only temporary.

Among the general populace, the sciences were generally accepted,
though they were still not considered on the same plane as the
classical studies. Most fathers had definiteideas of what they
wanted their sons to learn at the university. Sir Daniel Fleming,
thoughinterestedin the "new philosophy" himself,wrote to his
son George at Oxford,"Whilst you shall continuein ye University,
I would have your chief study to be Logick, Ethiclks,Phisicks,
Metaphysic and Divinity. '2 The fact that science and the scien-
tificmethodwere still called the "new philosophy" at the end of
the centuryis enough to show that many people still thoughtof the
curriculumin classical terms.
The mostmoderninstitutionsof universitystanding during the
latter part of the 17th centurywere not Oxford and Cambridge,
but the Dissenting Academies. In 1662, the Restoration Parlia-
ment passed the Act of Uniformity,dividing England into Con-
formistsand Nonconformistsor Dissenters. Among other things
this Act made subscriptionto the tenets of the Church of England
a prerequisiteto residencein the universities. Such large numbers
of Englishmenwere excluded in the early years of the Restoration
Period that the enrollmentin the universities dropped sharply.53
Nevertheless,the Nonconformistswere not willingto have their
sons go uneducated. Since the universities were closed to them,
52Flemings,TI, 262. D. F. to George, Sept. 3, 1689.
53 Conformistsconsistedof
1. Churchof England members
2. Presbyterianswho conformedto the regulationsof this Act
3. Latitudinarians-Cambridge Platonists or Cartesians
Nonconformistsincluded
1. Churchof England Dissenters
2. People who belongedto no sect or party
3. Presbyterians
4. Independents(Congregationalists)
5. Lesser Sects-Behemenists,Fifth MonarchyMen, Quakers,Anabaptists,
etc.-all classifiedas "fanatics."-Richard Baxter, The Autobiographyof Richard
Baxter, ed. L. Thomas, 1779, 177-79. First publishedin 1696. After 1670 Balliol
College had only twenty-five undergraduateson its rolls and attemptwas made to
attractmore students. Gunther,Early Science, XI, 326 (Appendix A); Wood re-
marksupon the scarcityof studentsin 1682 and 1683. The Life of AnthonyWood
from the Year 1632 to 1672, Writtenby Himself and Published by Mr. Thomas
Hearne ... Oxford,1772; Cambridgestatisticsare in the appendix to J. B. Mull-
inger's The Universityof Cambridge,Cambridge,1884, III, appendix E, 679.

theyproceeded to found their own colleges, staffingthemwith fel-

lows and tutorsforced out by the Clarendon Code. The firstDis-
sentingAcademies were founded in 1663 at Coventry,Sheriffhales
and Shrewsbury. They were soon followedby many others and by
the end of the century there were more than thirty academies,
many of which survived well into the 18th century. Samuel Wes-
ley estimates that three hundred students were educated at the
academy of Richard Frankland at Rathmell, and an equal number
at Charles Morton's academy at NewingtonGreen. In fact,he be-
lieves that "there must have been some THOUSANDS this way
educated [in Dissenting Academies], since the Return of K.
Charles."I4
The Dissenting Academies were not only institutionsof univer-
sity standing,they were rivals of the universities,in curricula as
well as in numbers. "The Dissenting Academies gave not merely
an education to Dissenters, but a 'Dissenting' education-an edu-
cation, that is, whichwas differentfromthat in the other schools-
an education which became much broader than that of the univer-
sities."'" The universitiescontinuedto give an essentially classi-
cal education,as we have seen, despite the introductionof scientific
studies, and the foundationof scientificchairs. They taught sub-
jects that were as trulycultural as theywere non-utilitarianwhile
"the Academies, in contrast, held that a truly liberal education
was one whichwas 'in touchwithLife' and whichshould therefore
include as many utilitarian and empirical subjects as possible."
Therefore they " paid more and more attention to science and
modern languages." These Non-conformistcolleges were a rad-
ical departure from the accepted universityeducation of the day.
Charles Morton gleefullycomments,"A poor Hackney may put a
Race Horse upon his brisker Career. This may stir up . . . a
greater Diligence and Industry in the Universities....'56 'It is
54Samuel Wesley, A Defense of a Letter Concerningthe Education of Dis-
senters in their Private Academies . . . , London, 1704, 14-15. A complete list of
these academies may be found in Irene Parker, Dissenting Academies in Englnd,
Cambridge,1914, Appendix I, 137-40, and in H. AMcLachlan, English Education
under the Test Acts, Manchester,1931, 7-15. The foundingdates differsomewhat
in the two lists.
55 Parker, Dissenting Academies,44. This statementis especially true of the
academiesin the18thcentury,c.f. H. MeLachlan, WarringtonAcademy; Its History
and Influence,printedfor the ChethamSociety,1943, 15, 25-26.
56RobertK. Merton,"Science, Technologyand Societyin the SeventeenthCen-

252 PHYLLIS ALLEN
possible that the partial modernizationof the universitycurricu-

lum in the early 18th centuryresulted from the influenceof these
rival educational institutions.
The actual program of studies in the academies was radi-
cally differentfrom that in the universities. In some academies,
instead of attending formal lectures, the student read books on
geography, anatomy, physics and natural philosophy, and occa-
sionally his work was "heard." In many cases, "practical exer-
cises accompanied the course of lectures and the students were
employedat times in surveyingland, composingalmanacs, making
sundials of differentconstructionsand dissecting animals." At
Sheriffhales,"lectures were not merelydelivered with no thought
as to whether they were remembered. Careful explanation was
given, and before a lecture was started, an account of the preced-
ing one was required, and the lectures were 'commonlycommitted
to memory,at least as to the sense of them.''" Thus, a student
at a Dissenting Academy would not be likely to find,as Whiston
did at Newton's lectures,that he "understood themnot at all."
Students at the Dissenting Academies were trained in a variety
of professions,but the old favorites, law, theology and medicine,
predominated. "At the influentialNorthampton Academy me-
chanics, hydrostatics, physics, anatomy, and astronomy had an
important place in the curriculum. These studies were pursued
largely with the aid of actual experimentsand observations." At
Morton's Newington Green Academy the scientificstudies were
emphasized, and Morton himself wrote a compendiumof physics
which his students transcribedfor themselves and used as a text
with his lectures.58 Samuel Palmer says that at Bethnal Green
"the highest class were ingag'd in Natural Philosophy of which
Le Clerk was our System, whom we compar'd with the Antients
and other Moderns, such as Aristotle, Cartes, Colbert, Staire, etc.
tury," Osiris, IV, 1938, 478; Paper by Charles Morton printed under "Charles
Morton"in Edmund Calamy,A Continuationof the Account of the Ministers,Lec-
turers,Masters and Fellows of Colleges, . . . Ejected . . . after the Restorationin
1660 . . . London, 1727, I, 196.
57 Parker, DissentingAcademies,70-71, 75.
58 Merton,"Science, Technologyand Society in the SeventeenthCentury,"loc.
cit., 477-78; Calamy, Continuationof MinistersEjected, I, 197-98. A Harvard
student'seditionof Charles Morton's CompendiumPhysicae has been published by
the Colonial Society of Massachusetts,Vol. XXXIII (Collections), Boston, 1940.

We disputed every day in Latin upon several Philosophical Con-

troversies. . . . In Geography we read Dionysii Periaegesis com-
par'd with Cluverius Ed. Bnnonis, which at this Lecture always
lay open upon the Table.""5 Presumably Bethnal Green, like all
the Dissenting Academies, had small classes.
It is strange that aside fromDaniel Defoe and Joseph Priestley,
so few men of renown are numbered among the graduates of the
Dissenting Academies. This lack of distinguishedalumni probably
accounts for their present obscurity. They served their purpose,
however, by providing university education for Nonconformists.
Gradually, as religious fervor grew less intense, the day of the
Dissenting Academies drewto a close, and theydied out one by one.
Much had been accomplishedfor science in the universitiesdur-
ing the 17th century. Scientificresearch had earned for scientific
studies a place in the curriculum,which thoughby no means pro-
portionate to theirtrue importance,was, nevertheless,a great step
forward. Probably the greatest gain during the centurywas the
changed attitude towards science on the part of the general public.
No longer did parents keep their sons from the university lest
theybe "smutted withthe black art. Though enthusiasmfor the
new studyhad dropped offto some extentat the end of the century,
the student no longer found it so necessary to go outside for ad-
vanced modern instruction. Puritan educational ideas during the
Commonwealthhad especially influencedthe struggle of the "new
philosophy" against the forces of inertia and reaction. The ac-
ceptance of Newtonian scientificideas withouta struggleindicates
a changed attitude towards science. In short, modern scientific
studies enteredthe curriculumduringthe firsthalf of the 17th cen-
tury; their precarious position was established and consolidated
in the Cromwellian and Restoration Periods; finally,though not
actually popular, theywere generallyaccepted in the Age of New-
ton. At the close of the century,in the universities,as in all Eng-
land, science had come to stay.
University of Pennsylvania.
59 Samuel Palmer, Defence of the Dissenter'sEducation in theirPrivate Acad-
emies,London,1703, 4, 5.


ALLEN Scientific Studies in The English Universities of The Seventeenth Century

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Scientific Studies in the English Universities of the Seventeenth Century

Author(s): Phyllis Allen

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.162 on Fri, 20 Jun 2014 21:08:10 PM

At the opening of the seventeenth century,the program of

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.162 on Fri, 20 Jun 2014 21:08:10 PM

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.162 on Fri, 20 Jun 2014 21:08:10 PM

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.162 on Fri, 20 Jun 2014 21:08:10 PM

author whomthe public professorin each facultyha [d] undertaken

Caroline Code or Laudian Statutes,promulgatedA.D. 1636. Title VI, Section I,

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degree they were permittedto spend another three years in the

ed. C. R. L. Fletcher,Oxford,1885, Pt. 6, 301. Oxford Historical Society Series.

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of either that the average student seems to have learned, most

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This content downloaded from 188.72.126.162 on Fri, 20 Jun 2014 21:08:10 PM

to hold classes in arithmeticat his lodgings once a week "without

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year of their bachelorshipcompleted," were to attend the lectures

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Many students had the same opinion of academic scientific

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This content downloaded from 188.72.126.162 on Fri, 20 Jun 2014 21:08:10 PM

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of Cherburythoughtarithmeticonly worth knowing for keeping

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causes. Therebythe betterto understandthe true ground of

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R. W. T. Gunther,Early Science in Oxford, (Oxford, 1923), I, 22-23.

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Thomas Browne, mentionshis scientificstudies in describing his

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etryin English and Latin. Two years earlier Richard Billingsley,

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Cromiwellwas petitionedfor the same purpose. Oxford and Cam-

Wood, Ath. Oxon., II, 780.

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occult and central observations; which are to be found out by la-

Hall objected to the strictnessof the Statutes,whichmade it difficult

Advancementof Learning and Reformationof the Universities,London, 1641, 27.

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picion of "the superstitiousAlgebra and that blacke Art of Geome-

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sciences. Unfortunately,the authors Cowley suggested (Celsus,

A Praefatory Answer to Mr. Henry Stubbe . . . , London, 1671; 83; Correspondence

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The program of a typical Oxford undergraduate of the time,

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Wilding evidently studied astronomy and geography, for his ac-

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Henry ten years earlier. Many of the books he took to Oxford

Sennertus,Epitome Naturalis Scientiae, 3rd. ed., Oxford,1632; Robert Sanderson,

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(1679); John Graunt's Natural and Political Observations on the

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the greatest features of the intellectual life of Restoration Cam-

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seldom published his mathematical researches and sometimes re-

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lanies of Francis Van Schooten, thoughthese books are not listed

or belontingto Sir Isaac Newton,Cambridge,1888, 46-47, Sect. VII. The second

of Sir Isaac Newtonand ProfessorCotes .. . , ed. J. Edleston,London,1850, preface,