ABSTRACT
The 1890s were called the naughty nineties; an adjective that no one would ever associate with Queen Victoria or Mr Gladstone. In retrospect it was a wonderfully creative decade. The 1890s may seem to have been a confident and creative time; but the decade ended with British defeats in South Africa and the century that followed saw far worse disasters. By the 1870s the successes of German science and scholarship began to be increasingly recognised by British academic institutions and movements were started to establish research in British universities. Universities have imposed their structure on the world of learning and on professional training. In their own defence the universities and polytechnics can point out that they necessarily reflect the society in which they exist with all its strengths and weaknesss. The universities rendered a great service in preserving knowledge of ancient mathematics, philosophy, law, medicine and astronomy.
