ABSTRACT
To write about Patrick Geddes’ (1854-1932) contribution to educational philosophy and practice (epitomised in his motto “Vivendo discimus”) is a daunting task, not simply because of his achievements in the fi eld of education, but because one is continually distracted by accomplishments of a similar scale in an astonishing diversity of other areas. Indeed one need look no further than the titles of books about him to realise this. Examples include: Th e interpreter: Geddes, Th e Man And His Gospel (Defries, 1927); Th e Worlds of Patrick Geddes: Biologist, Town Planner, Re-educator, Peace-warrior (Boardman, 1978); Patrick Geddes: Social Evolutionist and City Planner (Meller, 1990), Th ink Global, Act Local: Th e Life And Legacy of Patrick Geddes (Stephen, 2004). If one reads these and other texts on Geddes (e.g., Kitchen, 1975; Stephen, 2004), it is easy to conclude that his zeal for learning and action remained undiminished throughout a career of international signifi cance. His accomplishments and legacy are perhaps best understood in the context of the period during which he lived and worked, spanning the latter part of the Victorian era and the early 20th century. His range of interests is exemplifi ed through archival records which show that he knew personally or was in correspondence with a number of infl uential United Kingdom and international intellectuals, artists, poets, educationalists, scientists, and policy makers of the time including, Th omas Huxley, Charles Darwin, Mahatma Ghandi, John Dewey, Cecil Reddie, Lewis Mumford, Hugh MacDairmid, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Kurt Hahn, and Fridtjof Nansen.
