This paper points out that the provincial mechanics' institutes of England in their early years were as much the product of a general and pervasive scientific culture as they were of a particular educational movement. To this extent the institutes can be interpreted within the context of wider social and economic changes. The bulk of the paper relates to the Mechanics' Institute at Sheffield in the period 1832–50, but through this and other material it is argued that this case study (...) deserves general consideration. (shrink)