The Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh was a learned society based in Edinburgh, Scotland "for the cultivation of the physical sciences". [1]
The society was founded in 1771 as the Physico-Chirurgical Society but soon after changed its name to the Physical Society. After being granted a Royal Charter in 1778 it became the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh. [2]
It absorbed a number of other societies over the next fifty years, including the Edinburgh Medico-Chirurgical Society in 1782 (not to be confused with the extant Medico-Chirurgical Society of Edinburgh, founded in 1821), [3] the American Physical Society in 1796 (not to be confused with the extant American Physical Society, founded in 1899), the Hibernian Medical Society in 1799, the Chemical Society in 1803, the Natural History Society in 1812 and the Didactic Society in 1813. [2]
The society occupied a lecture hall in Nicholson Street, Edinburgh, complete with library. [4] From 1854 to 1965, it published the journal Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh, devoted to articles on experimental biology and natural history. [1]
Members of the society were known as Fellows and permitted to use the post-nominal letters FRPSE. Presidents were elected at intervals, sometimes more than one for each year.
Some of the records of the Society, for the period 1828–1884, are maintained by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.
The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on its west by the Dean Gallery. A 20th-century extension lies detached from the main cemetery to the north of Ravelston Terrace. The main cemetery is accessible through the main gate on its east side, through a "grace and favour" access door from the grounds of Dean Gallery and from Ravelston Terrace. The modern extension is only accessible at the junction of Dean Path and Queensferry Road.
The Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London (RMCS), created in 1805 as the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, was a learned society of physicians and surgeons, that received a Royal charter in 1834, and a supplement charter in 1907 to create the newly merged Royal Society of Medicine.
Phoebe Anna Traquair was an Irish-born artist, who achieved international recognition for her role in the Arts and Crafts movement in Scotland, as an illustrator, painter and embroiderer. Her works included large-scale murals, embroidery, enamel jewellery and book illuminations. In 1920, she was elected as an honorary member of the Royal Scottish Academy.
Ramsay Heatley Traquair FRSE FRS was a Scottish naturalist and palaeontologist who became a leading expert on fossil fish.
The Church of St John the Evangelist is a Scottish Episcopal church in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is sited at the west end of Princes Street at its junction with Lothian Road, and is protected as a category A listed building.
Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, and a number of notable Edinburgh residents are interred at Greyfriars. The Kirkyard is operated by City of Edinburgh Council in liaison with a charitable trust, which is linked to but separate from the church. The Kirkyard and its monuments are protected as a category A listed building.
Warriston Cemetery is a cemetery in Edinburgh. It lies in Warriston, one of the northern suburbs of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built by the then newly-formed Edinburgh Cemetery Company, and occupies around 14 acres (5.7 ha) of land on a slightly sloping site. It contains many tens of thousands of graves, including notable Victorian and Edwardian figures, the most eminent being the physician Sir James Young Simpson.
Sir Thomas Grainger Stewart was an eminent Scottish physician who served as president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (1889–1891), president of the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Edinburgh, president of the medicine section of the British Medical Association, and Physician-in-Ordinary to the Queen for Scotland. He was perhaps best known for describing the condition known as multiple neuritis as well as directing scientific attention in Great Britain to the deep reflexes.
Ramsay Traquair was a Scottish architect and academic with strong links to Canada. He is remembered more for his numerous publications than for his buildings, which are limited in number. He was a particular expert on Early Canadian and French-Canadian architecture.
Francis Chalmers Crawford FRSE (1851–1908) was a Scottish stockbroker of fame as an amateur botanist and ornithologist. Saxifraga crawfordii is named after him. He served as President of the Scottish Microscopical Society.
Events from the year 1789 in Scotland.
Thomas John Jehu was a British physician and geologist. The Jehu-Campbell Fossil Collection at the University of Edinburgh was donated by Jehu in combination with Robert Campbell and is now the main component of their “Highland Border Series” of fossils. Many of the fossils come from the Aberfoyle area.
Robert Halliday Gunning FRSE PRPSE FSA LLD was a Scottish surgeon, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He did much to improve social conditions in Brazil and also became rich there. He endowed numerous prizes and awards including the Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prizes. The University of Edinburgh provides scholarships under the title of Gunning Victoria Jubilee Bursaries. He was a close friend of both Thomas Chalmers and Robert Christison.
John Hennen FRSE was an Irish-born military surgeon and author of the acclaimed medical textbook The Principles of Military Surgery.
Johnson Symington FRS FRSE FZS LLD (1851–1924) was a British anatomist and zoologist. He was President of the Ulster Medical Society for 1896/7. He served as President of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1904 to 1906. He is noted for his comparative studies of the brain of modern man and prehistoric man, and of man and other primates. From 1923 onwards Queen's University Belfast award a Symington Prize every year to junior anatomists in his honour.
Robert Stewart MacDougall FRSE LLD was a Scottish entomologist, agriculturalist and zoologist. In authorship he appears as R. S. MacDougall.
Dr George Muirhead FRSE LLD (1845-1928) was a 20th-century Scottish naturalist and artist.
William Wood FRCSEd FRSE was a 19th-century Scottish surgeon who twice served as President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, twice as President of the Medico-Chirurgical Society and once as President of the Harveian Society.