Also across the European continent in the 19th century. My favorite anecdote is the story of Michael Faraday's unusual education. Being from a blue-collar fund

Also across the European continent in the 19th century. My favorite anecdote is the story of Michael Faraday's unusual education. Being from a blue-collar fundamentalist Christian family he just got an elementary education in reading and arithmetic before apprenticing as a book-binder. However he was an ardent fan of the Royal Society's public science lectures. He eventually wrangled a lab assistantship with the college educated scientist Humphrey Davies, eventually to surpass him in important discoveries. P.S. in a few months (Sept 21, 1821) is the bicentennial of Faraday's invention of the electric motor- one of the most important inventions of the modern era.