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This article discusses a study which examined the relation between science and atheism in London, England during the mid-Victorian period. The paper described what atheists did in the 1860s, their ideology, and their total commitment to the task of making every thinking man and woman an atheist. The mid-Victorian atheist delighted in the use of words, but his shades of meaning in using terms such as atheist, freethinker, secularist are elusive to the historian. In connection with this a nomenclature was suggested. An atheist might deny the existence of God, or he might refuse to do this on the grounds that the word God had no meaning for him. Freethinkers declined to accept the divine inspiration of the bible and he would have included amongst freethinkers the atheists, Unitarians, and a growing number of liberal Christians. The secularist was a freethinker who combined thought with action and aspired by concerted effort with his fellow freethinkers to expose religion to the logic of material facts. Science was studied by working-class atheists because they loved learning for its own sake, and additional motivation came from its usefulness in proving the scripture to be wrong. In conclusion the paper saw science as an alternative to religion for the thinking working man.

The article discusses a study on fertility of teachers in England and Wales, Great Britain. A sample of teachers differs from a population sample as it may be reduced not only by death but also by other factors which may have a direct bearing on fertility, such as health or change of occupation. In order to compare the fertility of teachers with other occupational groups, the Family Census material was used. The two samples are not entirely identical. The Family Census included divorced and widowed women provided they were divorced or widowed after their 45th birthday. The analysis which follows the pattern set by the Family census' of 1946 describes fertility in terms of numbers of live-born children per married male teacher by marriage cohort and duration of marriage. The data were collected partly by postal questionnaire and partly by personal interview. The postal and interview data were compared and showed no significant difference with respect to the factors under discussion in the present study and only minor differences for other factors.

Presents the economic background on the first successful use of coke in iron smelting in eighteenth century Britain. Significance of water communications and markets in understanding the iron trade; Coke production in the Midland region; Overview of the iron industry; Trade patterns; Processes; Iron consumers; Role of water power; Transport costs; Economic significance of Abraham Darby's discovery at Coalbrookdale.

Presents information about the second international colloquium organized by the Society for the Study of Labour History, that was held in June 1968 at Birkbeck College in London, England. Similarities of language at the colloquium; Fits among the pairs of British and American papers presented at the colloquium; Juxtaposition of the descriptions of the different influences exerted on labor and on the labor movement in the U.S. and Great Britain.

The article focuses on the railways and economic growth in England and Wales. The article refers from the book "New Economic History," by Gary Hawke written in and about the United Kingdom. Several chapters in the book are devoted to the developments of input and output measures, and these are used to compute an index of total factor productivity for the years 1840-1890. The pricing policy of railroads is studied, estimates of the iron-demand generated in construction calculated, the cyclical impact of railroad expenditures described, and possible benefits external to the railroad users discussed. The heart of the book is the calculation of the social savings generated by British railroads over the period 1840-1870, with particular attention paid to the year 1865. The savings in resources attributable to shifting from one mode to another then depends upon the elasticity of the demand for transport services, the cost per ton-mile of shipping by non-railroad means (canals, roads, etc.) and the cost per ton-mile of shipping by railroads.

Discusses how banking families have influenced British banks and their traditions. History of the Smith family of Nottingham, England; Portrayal of the Smith family in "Smiths the Bankers, 1658-1958," by J. A. S. L. Leighton-Boyce; Role of the Smiths as businessmen; How the legalisation of joint-stock banks changed the banking outlook; The Smith's links to trade and industry; Banking principals; Private banks.

Examines how the rise of the Lloyd family in seventeenth and eighteenth century English industry illustrates one source of industrial capital and entrepreneurial skill. Background on the family, including Sampson Lloyd I; Details of the iron trade business that Lloyd created in Birmingham, England; Importance of steel as a commodity; Focus of the business on the manufacture and distribution of iron; Trading links; Details of the family business; Elements in the success of the business.

Discusses the partnership of Edgar Corrie, John Gladstone and Jackson Bradshaw during the regional corn deficit in South Lancashire, England. Industrialisation in the last decades of the eighteenth century; Why cereal agriculture diminished; Implications of the corn problem for South Lancashire; Issue of preserving standards among dealers; Corn-trading connections; Growing market potential; Approach of Edgar Corrie, Gladstone and Bradshaw to corn marketing; Corrie's plan for a major speculation in American grain; Success of the firm.

The article presents information on the Annual Meeting of the Standing Conference on Studies in Education that was held in the New Lecture Theatre, at King's College London, England on December 17, 1971. Its theme, introduced by Professor J.R. Webster, of the University College of North Wales, Bangor, was based on the role of education as an undergraduate study. In opening the discussion one of the speakers suggested that the traditional concern of UDEs, the postgraduate certificate course, did not provide a basis for either a rigorous study of education or a training for research workers. The PGCE course was too brief, the backgrounds of the students taking it too varied and, most problematic of all, when training teachers it was necessary to show a direct and immediate relationship between theory and practice. It was sometimes suggested that UDEs should abandon teacher training altogether and concentrate on research. A more fruitful approach was the introduction of undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses so that UDEs became ordinary university departments who were also involved in the initial and in-service training of teachers.