Curious Edinburgh - Curious Edinburgh

The Edinburgh Seven

History of Medicine, History of Science Comments Off

Apr 172016

Royal College of Surgeons, Nicolson St, Edinburgh EH8 9BZ

A notorious riot took place on this spot at the doors of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1870 when male medical students attempted to prevent female students from taking an anatomy exam. The first group of female students, known as the Edinburgh Seven, were Sophia Jex-Blake, Isabel Thorne, Edith Pechey, Matilda Chaplin, Helen Evans, Mary Anderson, and Emily Bovell. Several went on to distinguished medical careers, including the leader of the group, Jex-Blake, who set up the Edinburgh Hospital and Dispensary for Women, and Chaplin, who founded a school of midwifery in Tokyo.

Sophia Jex-Blake (1840–1912).

Plaque to the Edinburgh Seven, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

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House of James Young Simpson

History of Medicine, History of Science 1 Response »

Apr 172016

52 Queen Street, Edinburgh EH2 3NS

In this house on 4 November 1847 James Young Simpson, professor of medicine and midwifery at Edinburgh University, discovered the effects of chloroform, the first widely used anaesthetic. Simpson and some of his medical friends used to spend their evenings testing the effects of various chemical substances on themselves in the hope of finding an effective anaesthetic. On this particular evening they decided to try chloroform, which had first been sythesised in 1831. This instantly rendered all three of them unconscious until the next morning. On waking up, Simpson realised he had found what he was looking for.

No public access.

James Young Simpson (1811–70).

Plaque on the wall of James Young Simpson’s former house.

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Grave of Sir Robert Sibbald

History of Medicine, History of Science Comments Off

Apr 172016

Greyfriars Cemetery, Candlemaker Row, Edinburgh EH1 2QQ

Sir Robert Sibbald was a graduate of the University of Leiden, then the foremost centre for medical education in Europe. In 1685 he became the University of Edinburgh’s first professor of medicine, although as far as we know if never actually gave any lectures. He was a founder of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and, along with Sir Andrew Balfour, established the city’s first botanical gardens in 1670. He was a keen collector natural history specimens, which he left to the university in his will. These formed the original core of the University Museum’s famous natural history collection.

Sir Robert Sibbald (1641–1722).

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Grave of Colin Maclaurin

History of Astronomy, History of Science, Mathematics 2 Responses »

Apr 172016

Greyfriars Cemetery, Candlemaker Row, Edinburgh EH1 2QQ

Tomb of Colin Maclaurin

Colin Maclaurin was an important figure of the first years of the Scottish Enlightenment. He was an early champion of Newtonianism, who was given the chair of mathematics at the University of Edinburgh in 1725 at Isaac Newton’s own recommendation. Maclaurin and a number of like-minded colleagues made Edinburgh into what was probably the most important centre for the dissemination of Newtonian ideas in Britain after the death of Newton himself. He famously defended Newton’s calculus against the philosophical objections of Bishop Berkeley. MacLaurin was also one of the early proponents of Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh, having campaigned for building an astronomical observatory, as well as raising funds for this project (totalling £285 in 1748!).

Colin Maclaurin (1698–1746)

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James Hutton Memorial Garden

History of Geology, History of Science Comments Off

Apr 172016

St John’s Hill, 10 Viewcraig Gardens, Edinburgh EH8 9UQ

Hidden away just off the Pleasance is the Hutton Memorial Garden, on the site of the house where James Hutton lived till his death in 1797. it incorporates stones from localities that were important in the development of Hutton’s geological theories. Hutton believed that the continents were being slowly ground down and carried to the sea to be deposited as sand and mud. The internal heat of the earth then consolidated these deposits and raised them up to form new land. Hutton believed this cycle continued indefinitely, leaving ‘no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end’.

James Hutton (1726–97).

Hutton’s famous unconformity, Jedburgh. Two layers of rocks can be seen lying at different angles one on top of the other.

Plaque in the Hutton Memorial Garden.

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The Royal Society of Edinburgh

History of Astronomy, History of Science Comments Off

Apr 172016

22-26 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 2PQ

The Royal Society of Edinburgh at 22-26 George Street

The Royal Society of Edinburgh was set up in imitation of the Royal Society of London in 1783. It has been at its present location since 1909, having originally met in the college library of the University of Edinburgh. Its fellows have included such illustrious names as John Clerk Maxwell, Roderick Murchison, James Watt and Sir Walter Scott, who was its third president. Although originally scientific in orientation, it now accepts many famous names from the arts and humanities. The Society still continues its work of promoting original research in Scotland today.

Free public access to the foyer. Tours of the rest of the building may sometimes be available on request at the reception, depending on the availability of staff.

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Royal Society of Edinburgh: Our History

The Oyster Club

Chemistry, History of Science, Scottish Enlightenment 4 Responses »

Apr 172016

8-12 Niddry Street South, Edinburgh, EH1 1NS

This weekly dining club for scientists and philosophers met regularly throughout the 1770s. It had been established by the great economist and political philosopher Adam Smith, the chemist Joseph Black and the geologist James Hutton. The club was attended by a veritable constellation of Edinburgh’s most brilliant thinkers, including John Playfair, Adam Ferguson, David Hume and Sir James Hall. It also payed host to a wide variety of visiting international scientists, including the French geologist Barthélémy Faujas de Saint Fond, James Watt the engineer and inventor from Glasgow, and Benjamin Franklin the American scientist and inventor.

Now a private venue – no free public access.

City Observatory

History of Astronomy, History of Physics, History of Science Comments Off

Apr 172016

38 Calton Hill, Edinburgh, EH7 5AA

The City Observatory on Calton Hill

An observatory on Calton Hill was first proposed by Colin Maclaurin, Edinburgh’s professor of mathematics, in 1736. However, these plans came to nothing until Thomas Short brought a 12-foot reflecting telescope to the city in 1776, with the intention of opening a public observatory as a commercial enterprise. The university helped him with the cost of building the observatory on condition it was open to students. Short’s observatory became the property of the city on his death, but his daughter Maria Theresa ran her own observatory on Calton Hill before moving to a new site on Castlehill in 1850. Today, the site is run by the Collective, a centre for contemporary art.

The Gothic Tower at the Edinburgh City Observatory on Calton Hill, 1792.

The Playfair Building at the Edinburgh City Observatory on Calton Hill, 1824.

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Edinburgh Physic Garden

History of Medicine, History of Science Comments Off

Mar 082016

Platform 11, Waverley Station, Edinburgh EH1 1BB

From 1675 to 1763 the Edinburgh Physic Garden was near what is now platform 11 of Waverley Station. At the time it was close to the shores of a small lake, the Nor’ Loch. The site is now marked with a blue plaque. The garden had originally been established at Holyrood in 1670 by Sir Robert Sibbald and Sir Andrew Balfour, founder members of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. They were inspired to found it by similar gardens they had seen in France. It existed to provide medicinal plants and to teach botany to medical students.

Physic Garden commemorative plaque, Waverley Station

Plaque commemorating the site of Edinburgh’s physic garden, opposite platform 11, Waverley Station.

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Joseph Black’s house

History of Medicine, History of Science, Psychology 2 Responses »

Mar 082016

13 Sylvan Place, Edinburgh EH9 1LH

Up an alleyway here you will find the house where the great chemist Joseph Black lived in around 1740. To get to the university from here Black only had to walk across the Meadows, where he often took a stroll with his friends the economist and political philosopher Adam Smith and the geologist James Hutton. Among his important contributions to chemistry were the discovery of carbon dioxide and latent heat. He discovered the latter principle when he observed that applying heat to boiling water produces more steam, but does not raise its temperature above its boiling point.

No public access.

Portrait of Joseph Black (1728–99).

Commemorative plaque on Joseph Black’s house.

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