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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 282 Collections and/or Records:

Graduation medal of William Judson van Someren, 1845

 Item — Box CLX-A-479
Identifier: Coll-1848/23-0110
Scope and Contents

This is a graduation medal in medicine, awarded to William Judson van Someren in 1845 by the University of Edinburgh.

Dates: 1845

Gravity, Measure of Forces, c1780-c1802

 Item
Identifier: Coll-204/9
Scope and Contents

Notes in English, with occasional Russian headings, in basic physics like 'impulsion' and the measurement of forces. There are one or two mechanical sketches.

Dates: c1780-c1802

Hydraulics, c1780-c1802

 Item
Identifier: Coll-204/5
Scope and Contents

Volume contains lectures in hydraulics, with diagrams of such things as pistons, undulation, and the Venturi effect. Some chapter headings are in Cyrillic cursive.

Dates: c1780-c1802

Hydraulics, c1780-c1803

 Item
Identifier: Coll-204/26
Scope and Contents

Volume contains manuscript notes on hydraulics. Numerous diagrams append, including an enormous one of a fourteen-foot water wheel.

Dates: c1780-c1803

Inaugural lecture, 1925

 File
Identifier: Coll-1310/3/1/2/2
Scope and Contents Thomson discusses how intelligence is distributed between the various social or occupational levels of society. He explains the normal distribution of intelligence within the population, drawing parallels with the distribution of height. Thomson refers to inquiries carried out by him in Northumberland in 1922, and inquiries carried out in the Isle of Wight in 1924, which demonstrated that individual differences outweigh social differences, and supported the notion that heredity...
Dates: 1925

Intellectual System, Natural Laws, c1780-c1803

 Item
Identifier: Coll-204/13
Scope and Contents

Volume contains notes on the philosophy of science and pedagogy.

Dates: c1780-c1803

Interviews with distinguished British scientists, 1969-1971

 Series
Identifier: EUA CA16/2
Scope and Contents Interviews with: Sir William Lawrence Bragg ( 1890-1971), physicist (1 CD) Sir Harold Brewer Hartley ( 1878-1972 ), physical chemist (23 CDs) Sir Alfred Charles Bernard Lovell ( b1913), radio astronomer, pioneer of radar and radio telescopes (3 CDs) Lord John Boyd Orr ( 1880-1971), nutritional physiologist (1 CD) Sir Frederick Stratten...
Dates: 1969-1971

Interviews with former staff of the Institute of Animal Genetics, 1969-1971

 Series
Identifier: EUA CA16/1
Scope and Contents

Contains interviews with: Charlotte Auerbach, Alick Buchanan Smith, Lord Balerno, F.A.E. Crew, Frank Fraser Darling, Hugh Paterson Donald, Honor Fell and Alan William Greenwood. The interviewer in all cases is Margaret Deacon.

Dates: 1969-1971

Introductions, c1779-c1801

 Item
Identifier: Coll-204/1
Scope and Contents

Volume consists of drafts of numerous introductions for various kinds of lectures in 'natural philosophy', the first dated October 26, 1779, and possibly bearing the name of David Hume.

Dates: c1779-c1801

Introductions, c1804

 Item
Identifier: Coll-204/2
Scope and Contents

Volume consists of drafts of numerous introductions for various kinds of lectures in 'natural philosophy'. They discuss the use of terms like 'causation' and 'laws', concerned less with scientific facts than with how to study science itself.

Dates: c1804