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Tait, Peter Guthrie

(Encyclopedia)Tait, Peter Guthrie, 1831–1901, Scottish physicist and mathematician. He was professor of natural philosophy at Edinburgh from 1860 and conducted important investigations in thermodynamics and the k...

Black, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Black, Joseph, 1728–99, Scottish chemist and physician, b. France. He was professor of chemistry at Glasgow (1756–66) and from 1766 at Edinburgh. He is best known for his theories of latent heat a...

Mar, John Erskine, 1st (or 6th) earl of

(Encyclopedia)Mar, John Erskine, 1st (or 6th) earl of, d. 1572, regent of Scotland. As Lord Erskine he was keeper of Edinburgh and Stirling castles, a source of much political strength. In the struggle between the ...

Brougham, Henry Peter, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux

(Encyclopedia)Brougham, Henry Peter, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux bro͞om, vôz, vôks [key], 1778–1868, British statesman, b. Edinburgh. As a young lawyer in Scotland he helped to found (1802) the Edinburgh Revie...

McDowell, Ephraim

(Encyclopedia)McDowell, Ephraim məkdoulˈ, –douˈəl [key], 1771–1830, American pioneer surgeon, b. Virginia. He studied with the Scottish surgeon John Bell in Edinburgh and practiced in Danville, Ky. He was n...

Gregory, James

(Encyclopedia)Gregory, James, 1638–75, Scottish mathematician. He invented a reflecting telescope (1661), which he described in his Optica promota (1663). In 1668 he became professor of mathematics at the Univ. o...

Charles, William

(Encyclopedia)Charles, William, 1776–1820, American cartoonist, etcher, and engraver, b. Edinburgh, Scotland. He probably came to the United States to avoid prosecution for his satirical drawings. He is best know...

Ferrier, James Frederick

(Encyclopedia)Ferrier, James Frederick fĕrˈēər [key], 1808–64, Scottish philosopher. He was a professor at Edinburgh (1842–45) and at St. Andrews from 1845 until his death. His major work, the Institutes of...

Playfair, John

(Encyclopedia)Playfair, John, 1748–1819, Scottish mathematician, physicist, and geologist. He was educated at St. Andrews and Edinburgh and taught first mathematics and then physics and astronomy at the latter un...

Black, Hugh

(Encyclopedia)Black, Hugh, 1868–1953, Scottish-American theologian and author. After serving as a pastor in Paisley and Edinburgh, he emigrated to the United States in 1906 to begin a professorship of practical t...