Nebraska advertiser., 1858-01-21
F0od for Thinkers.
Self EdueatIOn.


How IS acquaintance with science to he
obtained by men who have but a small
amount Of leisure, scant supply of books,
no apparatus worthy Of The name, and the
opportunities Of attending lectures few.
and rare We have no teachers, no lee
lures, no apparatus, you viii say. Now
IN answer to this, wish to place before
you a great truth, which somehow seems
to have been overlooked in our education-
al discussions 1t is this. that learning
must come from within, not from Without
that listening TO a lecture IS not learn
| ing-that looking at man making expe-
riments does not teach YOU L. manipulate
in science. Only think Of a man learning
to make shoes, or to sing or TO play on =
musical instrument, BY attending lectures
on shoemaking or music. He who wish
es to mount, must gird up the loins Of has
mind. Lectures or teachers are .rt.-v
well to keep idle boys to their work sksd
to stimulate the indOlent. All mental
/ improvement resolves itself ultimately intcr
/ self-improvement. Be assured that the
differences between the facilities which.
the rich and poor have for acquiring,
knowledge are not as great as is COM
monty imagined, especially IN this country
where man can procure for a few shiI-
hngs the very best manuals and textbooks
in almost any branch of literature or
science. He need not even go to that
expense; he may join an institution such
as this, and have the use Of all the books
for few pences. You may buy Euclid
for shilling, an arithmetic for the same /.
treatise on chemistry for a couple of
shilllngs. These are your best teachers.
Your books viii not tire IN giving You IN
formation. they will repeat il for ycu
again and again. If you have Inisuneer-
stood any thing they have said, or are
slow to comprehend them, they will wait
patiently for you until you are ready 10
proceed with them. They will put I'D
D with your ill-humor, they viii bear with
{ your mistakes, and it will cost yoa bot
little to keep them. But, yuu viii say,
? though books are cheap, and may be easi-
S ly procured, we have no apparatus, and
apparatus are scarce and dear, beyond the
means of the poor man TO obtain. Now.
4 here IS another error. There is a rreai
J deal too much talk about apparatus for
teaching science, and the necessity there
S IS that the State should manufacture II
: and supply 1t at a cheap rate to schools
and Institutions like this. A man who i:
eager to learn-who is determined {.
r know his subject-may, if be be at all
! handy, or with the assistance Of the village
carpenter or blacksmith, extemporize hi.
/. apparatus. Polished mohogapy, and ex.
n tensive brass work and complicated ad
: justments, are not at all essential. Iii:
. told of the celebrated philosopher, DR.
WOllaston, the inventor of the method o.
rendering platinum malleable, that wher
It a continental chemist of some celebrit,
e called on him and expressed a wish to b
shown over the laboratories in which
science had been enriched by so man,
Is important discoveries, the doctor took hin
into little study, and pointing 10 an Ole
q tea-tray on the table, with a few watch
glasses, test papers, small balance, ant
a blowpipe on it, said, There is all th,
y laboratory that have.-ReU. DR.. Boot
= at the LelUes Mechanics Institution.