A Discourse on the Studies of the University of Cambridge

Adam Sedgwick (1785–1873) was Professor of Geology at Cambridge from 1818, and in 1819 helped to found the Cambridge Philosophical Society. The 'Discourse' at the heart of this book first appeared in 1833. In it he urged students to develop their characters in this 'place of sound learning and Christian education'. He describes the subjects studied in the university - the 'laws of nature', ancient literature and language, and ethics and metaphysics - and their purpose in the service of God. By the time this fifth edition was published in 1850, however, the book had (as Charles Darwin put it in a letter to the author) 'wonderfully grown', with a Preface of 422 pages and an appendix, ranging very widely over the scientific and philosophical debates of the day, as well as ethics and religion. It provides a fascinating overview of a period of scientific revolution for historians of science and education.