History of Geology Tour
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1. Site of the Edinburgh Theatre Royal
The site of the old Edinburgh Theatre Royal was close to where the Balmoral Hotel now stands. Read more… |
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2. John Playfair memorial
Mathematician, physicist and geologist, John Playfair is perhaps best known as James Hutton’s most influential disciple. Read more… |
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3. Robert Jameson’s house
Robert Jameson was Edinburgh’s professor of natural history from 1804 to 1854. Read more… |
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4. Sir James Hall’s house
Sir James Hall was a important champion of the theories of James Hutton. Read more… |
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5. Archibald Geikie’s house
Collaborating with Roderick Murchison, Archibald Geikie produced the first geological map of Scotland in 1862 while working for the Geological Survey of Great Britain. Read more… |
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6. Site of the offices of the Witness
Hugh Miller was one of the most remarkable figures in 19th-century Scotland. Read more… |
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7. Site of Robertson’s Tavern, Milne’s Close
Alexander Rose was a wood and ivory turner and keen amateur geologist. Read more… |
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8. Grave of John Walker
John Walker was the University of Edinburgh’s second professor of natural history from 1779 to 1803, but the first to take his teaching responsibilities seriously. Read more… |
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9. Hutton’s Section, Salisbury Crags
During Charles Darwin’s time as a medical student in Edinburgh in 1825-7 he accompanied the professor of natural history, Robert Jameson, on one of his natural history class field trips to Salisbury Crags. Read more… |
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10. James Hutton Memorial Garden
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. Read More… |
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11. Giant Irish Elk, National Museum of Scotland
The magnificent skeleton of this extinct beast was added to the collection of Edinburgh University’s natural history museum in 1821 by Robert Jameson. Read more… |
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12. Commemorative pillars, the Meadows
These two commemorative pillars were erected in 1886 by the Master Builder and Operative Masons of Edinburgh for the International Exhibition of that year. Read more… |
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13. Mr Wood’s Fossils
This shop was established in 1987 by the professional fossil hunter Stanley Wood, who, although he never held an academic post, made some important palaeontological discoveries. Read more… |
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14. James Geikie’s house
James Geikie was professor of geology and mineralogy at the University of Edinburgh from 1882 to 1914, succeeding his brother Archibald Geikie in the chair. Read more… |