Talk:Mechanics' institute

earlier unsigned comments

Was Manchester or Bolton the 3rd Mechanics institute? according to the University of bolton http://www.bolton.ac.uk/university/aboutus/origins.html, Bolton was the 3rd Mechanics Institute, perhaps its worth asking the university for a source on that.

Bolton Mechancis cirtainly became the Bolton Institute of Technology, laiter the University of Bolton, the manchester mechanics and the bolton mechanics were both formed in 1824, the question is which one came first.

Mechanics' Institutes

Ipswich Mechanics' Institution was also founded by Dr Birkbeck in 1824. It still exists as Ipswich Institute Reading Room & Library, with over 2,000 members on the site it moved to in 1834 ( www.ipswichinstitute.org.uk )

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Historical vs Existing lists

As far as I can see, there are no mechanics' institutes which still follow the original model and name, and the "Existing" lists seems to overlap extensively with Historical. In Australia, they are often heritage-listed buildings, and many of the existing buildings are now libraries. I suggest collapsing these lists into one, and also, at least in the case of Australia, move most into the Mechanics' institutes of Australia article and just a small collection of prominent ones in this article. Thoughts?
Also, I will move be requesting a technical move to the singular form of the name, per WP:SINGULAR. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 01:04, 31 December 2021 (UTC)

I agree about requesting a technical move to the singular form of the name.--Bduke (talk) 03:21, 2 January 2022 (UTC)

Citation needed for stated purpose of the Institute

The section "Origins and history" says "Its purpose was to 'address societal needs by incorporating fundamental scientific thinking and research into engineering solutions'." However, the wording is suspiciously modern. I can't get Google Books to find "address societal needs" in the 19th century. And my memory is that "societal needs" and "[whatever] solutions" became trendy phrases only with my lifetime. DWorley (talk) 03:48, 19 March 2023 (UTC)

I would never query anything like this via recent search engines for a start - I would proffer an 1858 item (cautioning the actual 2023 understanding of some of the words used in 1858 might be very different):

"MECHANICS INSTITUTES". The Goulburn Herald And County Of Argyle Advertiser. Vol. X, , no. 587. New South Wales, Australia. 29 September 1858. p. 3. Retrieved 19 March 2023 – via National Library of Australia.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)

I would suggest finding similar items, as the quoted item above is questionable as to any veracity as to how 'thinking' about the institutes at the time might have manifest... JarrahTree 04:47, 19 March 2023 (UTC)

I'm not sure of what your point is. My complaint is that the quote on the page is unlikely to have been the words that were used to state the purpose of the Institute. Whether the current meaning of those words corresponds to what was the purpose of the institute when it was founded is a more complex matter than I'm not addressing.

I do find the quote on this page of the *Nottingham* Mechanics regarding the Edinburgh institute: http://www.nottingham-mechanics.org.uk/about/history/ DWorley (talk) 18:06, 20 March 2023 (UTC)