The first important influence which Tyndall had on Hirst was to encourage him, in addition to carrying out the many tasks relating to his job as a surveyor with the engineering firm, to continue with his education by reading on his own. Hirst read many works of literature, scientific texts and mathematics books such as Euclid 's Elements, Hutton 's Mathematics and Brewster's Life of Sir Isaac Newton.
Ang unang mahalagang impluwensiya na Tyndall had sa Hirst ay upang hikayatin siya, bilang karagdagan sa pagdala ang maraming mga gawain na may kinalaman sa kanyang trabaho bilang isang agrimensor sa engineering firm, upang magpatuloy sa kanyang pang-edukasyon sa pamamagitan ng pagbabasa sa kanyang sarili. Hirst basahin ang mga gawa ng literatura, pang-agham at matematika mga teksto ng mga libro tulad ng Euclid 's Sangkap, Hutton' s Matematika at Brewster's Life of Sir Isaac Newton.