22–26 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 2PQ
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland’s national academy of science and letters, and Benjamin Franklin is among its most distinguished former fellows. Franklin was elected a fellow of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh, the RSE’s predecessor body, during his Edinburgh visits; the RSE itself received its Royal Charter in 1783, three years after Franklin’s last contact with the group. Previous fellows of the RSE include James Clerk Maxwell, James Watt, and Thomas Reid, alongside Franklin, a roll call that spans the Scottish Enlightenment and the making of the modern world.
So deep was Benjamin Franklin’s attachment to Scotland that the Founder Father once stated, “Did not strong connections draw me elsewhere, I believe Scotland would be the country I would choose to end my days in.”