Technical education in England, Germany and France in the nineteenth century : a comparison

Abstract

This paper describes the developments of technical education in England, Germany, and France during the nineteenth century, contrasting their similarities and differences. It also analyses the role of the State in the provision of technical education in those countries. The paper suggests that the high standard of scientific and technical instruction contributed significantly to a country becoming an economic power. For instance, the growing technological superiority of the Germans over the British in activities such as production of chemicals, dyes, iron and steel, has been attributed to the fact that the British persisted in using of empirical methods and incremental tinkering to accomplish improvement and adaptation, while the Germans developed an extensive system of university and polytechnic education with close ties to industry that allowed them becoming the largest industrial power in Europe by the beginning of the twentieth century.