Holbrook defined a lyceum as an organization of people interested in acquiring self culture and knowledge. There were a hundred lyceums formed in the 1820s for crafts and mechanics of agricultural methods and geological surveys and further advanced the teaching system into other areas. In 1824 Holbrook introduced the study of languages besides English, like Latin, Greek, and French. The studies advanced to Mathematics, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Geography, and History. The schools also had courses in various branches of Astronomy, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Botany, and Zoology.