These volumes consist primarily of lecture notes for courses in physics, mechanics, natural history, and other topics studied by Roebling at Rensselaer during the 1850s. Lectures were delivered by Benjamin Franklin Greene, William Elderhorst, S. Edward Warren, Edward A.H. Allen and Charles Drown. There are two drawings of machinery from the John A. Roebling Factory, 1857. The Rensselaer curriculum of the day Washington described as "that terrible treadmill of forcing an avalanche of figures and facts into young brains not qualified to assimilate them yet." Washington's class numbered 65 on entering but only 12 were graduated three years later. During Roebling's attendance at RPI, the school's educational system consisted of three courses of study: civil engineering, topographical engineering and general science. Roebling's curriculum encompassed one year of preparatory courses following three years of general courses preparing graduates for practical and rational engineering practices.