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There is no doubt that in the early years of Victoria’s reign the British occupied a position of industrial supremacy. This era was unique because of an unprecedented expansion in production that generated a period of great commercial prosperity.2 The transformation that was taking place in the whole of society was both rapid and unrelenting. There was an “astonishing surge forward in the capacity of Britain to create and consume wealth.”3 As a result, the country could boast that it had become one of the richest nations on earth.4 It is equally true that as the nineteenth century ended other countries began to close in upon this industrial lead and, in some cases, overturn it. A minority of Victorian commentators, some as early as the 1850s, claimed that a lack of scientific and technical education in England exacerbated this situation. These individuals, who are best described as the technical educationists, subscribed to the view that without it, “the industry of the United Kingdom would be overtaken by those of other countries.”5 They argued that scientific and technical education was a necessary antidote to foreign competition. They were vigorous and persistent in promoting their ideas despite the failure of successive governments to heed their warnings.6 Argles regards them as prophets “who campaigned ceaselessly against the tide of The Times.”7 Abbott, in Education for Industry and Commerce in England, refers to the efforts of a number of well-qualified individuals who constantly drew the attention of those in power to the debilitating effect of superior technical education abroad on British industry.8 He points outs that this was stated “again and again in England, but without any action being taken to remedy the defects.”9 He reluctantly concludes that this condemned Britain to an irreversible decline. J. W. Adamson, commenting on the indifference toward science education, noted that the men of science regarded this neglect