When I was younger this was a very well-known subject, and actually was called Science Subject No. 1 in the days of the Board of Education’s South Kensington Examination. Engineers (mechanical and civil) and craftsmen were taught it as a fundamental subject, and even teachers in training were expected to know something about it. The rise of Practical Mathematics put it into the background—wrongly I think—but there are signs that a healthy interest is being taken in this section again.