Robert Scott Burn

[4] In the 1850s Burn wrote and edited a series of books on engineering and drawing, starting with Practical ventilation as applied to public, domestic, and agricultural structures.

Main works he further edited, were The Illustrated Drawing Book and Practical Geometry in 1853, The steam engine; its history and mechanism in 1854.

"[5] Burn continued to write on the wide ranging from agriculture, building construction and mechanical engineering to architectural and technical drawing.

"Drawing has been generally looked upon as an accomplishment," Burn said," not considered as an essential – as ornamental rather than indispensable in the education of the rising of generation.

According to Burn the first principle is: The full title of this work is The Illustrated London Practical Geometry: And Its Application to Architectural Drawing; for the Use of Schools and Students, published by Ingram, Cooke, and Company in 1853.

[14]In the early 20th century, Burn was remembered as "author of a large number of technical handbooks, some of which maintained a steady sale during the last thirty-five years.

"[8] According to Mervyn Romans (2005), Robert Scott Burn and William S. Binns are considered the two most popular and influential writers of technical manuals in the Victorian Age.

[6] In the late 19th century according to Romans (2005) the "increased demand for technical manuals reflects a fundamental shift in the way instruction in drawing was already moving away from being strictly the preserve of artists, towards a wider role in scientific and vocational education as well.