Hutchins and his circle believed textbooks, designed as stepping stones to reach the great understanding achieved by certain authors, and, yes, which often included many important details of practical use, were really becoming a problem in replacing the great books, that is, by becoming the final steps of education in their place. Because in that way, they reduced the ability for learners to attain to the full understanding, by principles, of what they were capable of learning and what the great authors were able to well-convey about the difficult topics they treated or, at least, what those authors were among the best able to convey with regard to the topics it was their primary concern to address in those writings.