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University of Edinburgh (Scottish University)

 Organization

Biography

The University of Edinburgh was established by Royal Charter in 1582. It was originally called Tounis College, when part of a legacy left by Robert Reid, Bishop of Orkney in 1558 had established a college of which the Town Council had gained control to establish a College of Law on the South side of Edinburgh. The inception of the University took place in 1583. In 1617 when King James VI of Scotland (I of England) visited the College it was decreed that the College should change its name to King James' College, although the College continued to use the older title. The first change in the corporate body of the University was not until 1935 when the first merger took place. This was between the Faculty of Divinity of the University of Edinburgh and New College. This was due to the re-union of the Church of Scotland in 1932.The next merger was in 1951 when the Royal (Dick) Veterinary School was reconstituted as part of the University of Edinburgh. The Royal (Dick) Veterinary School achieved full faculty status in 1964. In 1998 Moray House Institute of Education became the Faculty of Education.

The first classes of the university were held in Hamilton House known as the Duke's Lodge. In 1582 a site that included St Mary in the Fields was acquired. Many new buildings and extensions were made to the site of Hamilton House after 1616. Two prominent stages of building for the University were those undertaken by Robert Adam and William Playfair. In 1869 the site next to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was acquired. Building on this project was completed by the end of the 19th century. The University today is situated around these areas in the centre of Edinburgh and Kings Buildings and there are also campuses at Holyrood and elsewhere.

Teaching began in 1583 under Robert Rollock, with a four year course in arts to gain a masters of arts. When Rollock was appointed as the first principal of the University, there were four Philosophy regents and one regent of Humanity, whilst Rollock specialized in Divinity. Until the beginning of the 18th century the University remained essentially an Arts College, with a Divinity School attached. Throughout the 17th century the Chairs of Divinity, Oriental Languages, Ecclesiastical History and Mathematics had been created. By the end of the 17th century there was also regular teaching in Medicine, and sporadic teaching in Law. The University was at the centre of European Enlightenment in the 18th century. By 1722 a Faculty of Law had been established. The first medical Chair had been established in 1685 and was closely followed in the first half of the 18th century by six more. Four more medical Chairs were created in the 19th century. New Chairs in other Faculties were not established after 1760 until the latter half of the 19th century when they followed in rapid succession, continuing in the 20th century, which include those produced by the mergers with New College, the Royal (Dick) Veterinary School and Moray House Institute of Education.

The University was governed by the town council until the Universities (Scotland) Act of 1858, when it received self governing status. The archaic teaching and management system of regents was abolished in 1708. The 1858 act dramatically changed the constitution of the University. A University Court and General Council were introduced which decided on matters and management pertaining to the whole University. The Senatus Academicus was already in place before 1858and this managed academic matters, but answered to the Court and Council. This system is still used.

The University of Edinburgh provides validation for a Master of Fine Arts that has run jointly with Edinburgh College of Art since 1943. A joint chair, the Hood Chair of Mining Engineering was established in 1923 with Heriot-Watt College which became Heriot-Watt University.

In 2002, the structure of the university was altered substantially, with the abolition of Faculties and the creation of the College of Humanities & Social Science, the College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine and the College of Science & Engineering. Departments were replaced by Schools within each Faculty.

Found in 21 Collections and/or Records:

Notes on musical chords, c1780-c1803

 Item
Identifier: Coll-204/25
Scope and Contents

Volume contains manuscript notes on the physics of music, with numerous diagrams, including a printed one on the bones of the inner ear.

Dates: c1780-c1803

Pendulums,, c1780-c1803

 Item
Identifier: Coll-204/27
Scope and Contents

Volume contains manuscript notes on pendulums and related machinery in clocks. Numerous diagrams intersperse, some of them quite grand. At the rear of the volume are several essays on projectiles.

Dates: c1780-c1803

Pneumatics, Gunpowder, c1780-c1802

 Item
Identifier: Coll-204/8
Scope and Contents Notes, in English and occasional Russian, on the physics of air, principally pressure differentials and sound propagation. Topics include a lengthy discussion of the function and gross anatomy of the ear, barometrical measurement of height; published chart of comparative altitudes of famous mountain peaks, and the overall constitution of the atmosphere. The second half of the volume covers ballistics, mostly: diagrams, calculations, and records of artillery trials. A short, unrelated section...
Dates: c1780-c1802

Quarto A, c1680-c1708

 Series — Box Dk.1.2: Series Coll-33/Quarto A; Series Coll-33/Folio B; Series Coll-33/Folio D; Series Coll-33/Folio E
Identifier: Coll-33/Quarto A
Scope and Contents The papers of David Gregory in Quarto A consist of: 107 manuscript papers and an index, relating to: theoretical physics, including optics, especially treatises on refraction and colour, on mechanics, specifically on velocity, gravitation, centrifugal and centripetal force, and the movement of solids through fluid, and an occasional thought on magnetic attraction. Applied physics, considering ships,...
Dates: c1680-c1708

Rotation, Philosphy, c1780-c1803

 Item
Identifier: Coll-204/12
Scope and Contents

Volume contains lecture notes, with only one or two diagrams, of the physics of rotating bodies, and of the nature of physics itself.

Dates: c1780-c1803

Sounds, c1780-c1803

 Item
Identifier: Coll-204/15
Scope and Contents

Volume contains manuscript notes on the science of acoustics. Special topics include ear trumpets and the tuning of instruments. Two or three diagrams attend.

Dates: c1780-c1803

Space, Time, Motion, Stability, c1780-c1803

 Item
Identifier: Coll-204/16
Scope and Contents

Volume contains manuscript notes on the geometry of motion and stasis; numerous diagrams attend.

Dates: c1780-c1803

Treatises, c1780-c1802

 Item
Identifier: Coll-204/7
Scope and Contents

Illustrated print and manuscript treatises on the geometry of motion.

Dates: c1780-c1802

University of Edinburgh, King's Buildings Development: buildings plans, 1951-1978

 Sub-Series
Identifier: PJM/PJMA/EUD/D/5
Scope and Contents The University of Edinburgh, King's Buildings Development: buildings plans consists of: plans: proposed car park plans, (1971 plans: College of Agriculture, (1954-1974) plans: King's Buildings Centre, (1964-1973) plans: Maths / Physics Institute, (1965-1975) plans: zoology building, (1959-1973 plans: department of animal...
Dates: 1951-1978

University of Edinburgh, King's Buildings Development: Maths / Physics Institute, 1965-1975

 File
Identifier: PJM/PJMA/EUD/D/5.4
Scope and Contents

11 copy architectural plans (73cm x 111cm) for the Maths /Physics Institute at the University of Edinburgh King's Buildings. The plans are designed by the architects Sir Basil Spence, Glover & Ferguson and consist of a site plan, a grounds plan and floor plans all at 1/16" to 1' scale, and elevations and sections all 1/4" to 1' scale. .

Dates: 1965-1975