Site of the house of Lord Monboddo

 Scottish Enlightenment  Comments Off on Site of the house of Lord Monboddo
Sep 192017
 

Site of the house of Lord Monboddo13 St John St, Edinburgh EH8 8DG

James Burnett, Lord Monboddo (1714–99), was a judge and pioneer of comparative linguistics. He discussed his theories at ‘learned suppers’ held in this house where he entertained many of the leading figures of the Scottish Enlightenment. As well as expounding his ideas on the origins of languages his also speculated on the relationship between apes and humans, which has led some to see him as an early evolutionary thinker. His beautiful daughter Elizabeth, who died of tuberculosis in 1790 at the tragically early age of 24, was the subject of a poem by Robert Burns, ‘Elegy on the late Miss Elizabeth Burnet of Monboddo’.

Portrait of James Burnett, Lord Monboddo (1714–99).

Portrait of James Burnett, Lord Monboddo (1714–99).

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Adam Ferguson’s House (Sciennes Hill House)

 Scottish Enlightenment  Comments Off on Adam Ferguson’s House (Sciennes Hill House)
Sep 192017
 

Adam Ferguson's House.3 Sciennes House Place, Edinburgh EH9 1NN

Adam Ferguson was professor of moral philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, and, as the author of the Essay on the History of Civil Society (1767), is often considered one of the founders of sociology. He regularly entertained many of the leading figures of the Scottish Enlightenment at his house in Sciennes. In Ferguson’s day the house was on the very edge of the city and, because of its remoteness, his friends jokingly referred to it as ‘Kamchatka’ after the peninsula in Siberia. In the winter of 1786/7 he hosted a dinner here at which the two most famous Scottish writers of the period, Robert Burns and the young Walter Scott, met for the first and only time.

Portrait of Adam Ferguson (1723–1816) by Sir Joshua Reynolds.

Portrait of Adam Ferguson (1723–1816) by Sir Joshua Reynolds.

Plaque commemorating the meeting of Robert Burns and Walter Scott at the house of Adam Ferguson.

Plaque commemorating the meeting of Robert Burns and Walter Scott at the house of Adam Ferguson.

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National Records of Scotland – Adam Ferguson (1723-1816)

Grave of William Smellie

 Scottish Enlightenment  Comments Off on Grave of William Smellie
Sep 192017
 

Grave of William Smellie,Greyfriars Kirkyard, 1 Greyfriars, Edinburgh EH1 2QQ

William Smellie was a printer, naturalist and friend of the poet Robert Burns at the height of the Scottish Enlightenment. In 1768 Smellie was hired to edit the first edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1768–71). It was envisaged as a more conservative answer to Denis Diderot’s Encyclopédie (1751–72), which embodied many of the more radical ideas of the French Enlightenment. He not only edited it but wrote large parts of it himself, while also borrowing liberally without acknowledgement from other great writers including Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Johnson. He was a keen natural historian, writing several well-known books on the subject. In 1779 stood for the chair of natural history at the University of Edinburgh, but was pipped to the post by John Walker.

William Smellie (1740–95), engraved by Henry Bryan Hall after George Watson (1840).

William Smellie (1740–95), engraved by Henry Bryan Hall after George Watson (1840).

Inscription on WIlliam Smellie's grave.

Inscription on WIlliam Smellie’s grave.

 

Title page for first edition (1771) of Encyclopaedia Britannica, or, A Dictionary of Arts and Sciences.

Title page for first edition (1771) of Encyclopaedia Britannica, or, A Dictionary of Arts and Sciences.

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Tomb of David Hume

 Scottish Enlightenment  Comments Off on Tomb of David Hume
Sep 082017
 

Tomb of David HumeOld Calton Burial Ground, 27 Waterloo Pl, Edinburgh EH1 3BQ

David Hume’s two key works, A Treatise of Human Nature (1739–40) and An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748), are still studied by students of philosophy today. Although he is now best known as a philosopher, in his own day he was equally famous as a historian. While his genius was universally acknowledged, his sceptical philosophy was extremely controversial and led to him being passed over for professorships at the Universities of both Edinburgh and Glasgow. Instead he found a job as librarian at the Faculty of Advocates. His Essays on Natural Religion were so provocative that he never dared publish them in his lifetime.

Portrait of David Hume (1711–1776) by Allan Ramsay.

Portrait of David Hume (1711–1776) by Allan Ramsay.

Inscription on the tomb of David Hume.

Inscription on the tomb of David Hume.

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The University of Edinburgh, Philosophy – David Hume

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy – David Hume

Grave of Archibald Pitcairne

 Scottish Enlightenment  Comments Off on Grave of Archibald Pitcairne
Sep 082017
 

Grave of Archbald PitcairneGreyfriars Kirkyard, 1 Greyfriars, Edinburgh EH1 2QQ

There has been much debate among historian about the extent ot which the Scottish Enlightenment was a consequence of the Union with England in 1707. The existence of figures such as Archibald Pitcairne (1652–1713) provides powerful ammunition fo those who trace the roots of the Scottish Enlightenment back to before the Union. Pitcairne was an noted Edinburgh physician and scholar. He had been professor of medicine at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, but returned to Edinburgh in 1693. He was also an important early disciple of Isaac Newton, one of a group of Edinburgh Newtonians who played a significant role in the spread of Newton’s theories. His satirical writings criticising the Church earned him a reputation as an atheist and freethinker. Other inportant Edinburgh virtuosi, as they are sometimes called, included Sir Robert Sibbald (1641–1722) and Andrew Balfour (1630–94).

 

Portrait of Archibald Pitcairnce (1652-1713) by Rob Stranae.

Portrait of Archibald Pitcairne (1652-1713) by Robert Strange.

Inscription on the grave of Archibald Pitcairne.

Inscription on the grave of Archibald Pitcairne.

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The old Royal Infirmary, Lauriston Place

 History of Edinburgh Hospitals, History of Medicine  Comments Off on The old Royal Infirmary, Lauriston Place
Aug 212017
 

Old Royal Infirmary1 Lauriston Place, Edinburgh EH3 9EU

Designed by architect David Bryce, the Royal Infirmary at Lauriston Place was a state-of-the-art hospital when it was opened in 1879. The main hospital was also complimented by the new Edinburgh Royal Maternity Hospital.  In its day the Royal Infirmary was probably the best-planned hospitals in Britain. However, by the second half of the twentieth century it was proving inadequate to the needs of the new National Health Service. It was moved to a new site at Little France on the south-eastern outskirts of the city in 2003. Most of the site has since been redeveloped as the Quartermile project. It is also home to the University of Edinburgh’s Futures Institute.

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Darwin Building, King’s Buildings

 History of Biotechnology  2 Responses »
Aug 162017
 

Darwin BuildingMax Born Crescent, King’s Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3BF

This building was occupied from 1968 by Britain’s first university department of molecular biology, founded in 1965. Two eminent scientists in this department were Sir Kenneth Murray (1930-2013) and his wife Lady Noreen Murray (1935-2011) whose research helped pioneer a vaccine for hepatitis B. This work was sponsored by Biogen, the first biotechnology company in Europe, which was established by Kenneth Murray and colleagues in 1978 with laboratories in Geneva and Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1983, Murray donated his share of the income generated by this research to the University and established the Darwin Trust of Edinburgh, a charity formed to support education and research in the biological sciences. The Darwin Building is now home to the Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology and is currently undergoing redevelopment.

James Cossar Ewart’s experimental station, ‘The Bungalow,’ Penicuik

 History of Biotechnology  Comments Off on James Cossar Ewart’s experimental station, ‘The Bungalow,’ Penicuik
Jul 242017
 

The Bungalow

Navaar House Hotel, 23 Bog Rd, Penicuik EH26 9BY

‘The Bungalow’ was originally home to James Cossar Ewart (1851–1933), Regius Professor of Natural History at the University of Edinburgh between 1882 and 1927. Ewart commissioned the house in 1895 and also established a ‘Natural History Station’ on the premises, where he kept a menagerie of animals. Ewart’s most famous experiments were cross-breeding zebras and horses, the results of which were published in 1899 as The Penycuik Experiments. Ewart was later instrumental in founding the study of genetics at the University. The Bungalow is now a hotel, as is Ewart’s later home, Craigybield, which is situated further down the road.

The Bungalow c.1900.

The Bungalow c.1900.

 

Zebra-horse hybrid

James Cossar Ewart with his zebra-horse hybrid Romulus, at the Bungalow, Penicuik, c.1899.

 

Mortonhall House

 History of Biotechnology  Comments Off on Mortonhall House
Jul 242017
 

Mortonhall HouseMortonhall, 38 Mortonhall Gate, Frogston Road, Edinburgh EH16 6TJ

Originally a country mansion built in 1769 and thought to be designed by the Edinburgh architect John Baxter, this house was occupied by scientists at the new Agricultural Research Council (ARC) Unit of Animal Genetics and their families during the late 1940s and early 1950s. This communal living arrangement proved to be a turbulent experience which became immortalised in Edith Simon’s fictional book The Past Masters (1953). The house has now been converted into flats and offices on a site also occupied by a caravan and camping park, garden centre, golf course and crematorium.

Mutagenesis Research Unit, Institute of Animal Genetics

 History of Biotechnology  Comments Off on Mutagenesis Research Unit, Institute of Animal Genetics
Jul 242017
 

Crew LaboratoryCrew Laboratory, King’s Buildings, EH9 3JN

The Mutagenesis Research Unit of the Institute of Animal Genetics was established in 1958 with Medical Research Council funding. The director of the Unit, Charlotte Auerbach (1899-1994), had arrived at the Institute in 1933 after fleeing the Nazi regime in Germany. She was introduced to mutagenesis research by future Nobel Laureate Hermann J. Muller, during a research visit to Edinburgh. During the Second World War, Auerbach and the pharmacologist J.M. Robson made the groundbreaking discovery that mustard gas causes mutations to the chromosomes. The former Unit building is now renamed the Crew Laboratory and houses the Institute of Atmospheric and Environmental Science, part of the School of GeoSciences.

Charlotte Auerbach

Charlotte Auerbach, c.1955.

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