Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Royal Scottish Society of Arts

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit

The Royal Scottish Society of Arts is a learned society in Scotland, dedicated to the study of science and technology. It was founded as The Society for the Encouragement of the Useful Arts in Scotland by Sir David Brewster in 1821 and dedicated to "the promotion of invention and enterprise". The Society was granted a Royal Charter in 1841.

For many years the promotion of invention and improvements of all sorts was the main business of the Society, and its meetings were the focus of a large and active cross-section of Edinburgh society - academics, gentry, professionals such as civil engineers and lawyers, and skilled craftsmen such as instrument makers, engravers and printers. The Society's published Transactions provide a record of changes in technology, and the Society's extensive archive (publicly accessible in the National Library of Scotland) is a valuable resource used by researchers.

In more recent times, the Society's meeting programme has been based on lectures given by expert and often distinguished speakers. The lectures cover a wide range of scientific and technical topics, but still with the original aim of keeping the membership informed about current concerns in science, engineering, medicine, and often with a topical edge.

Meetings of the Society are held in Edinburgh monthly, at 7pm on Monday evenings, from October or November to May or June. In addition, organised visits are made each year to a research, manufacturing or industrial establishment.

Presidents of the Society

  • John Graham Dalyell (1837-40)
  • Andrew Fyfe (1840-41)
  • John Robison (1841-42)
  • James L'Amy (1842-43)
  • Thomas Stewart Traill (1843-44)
  • John Shank More (1844-45)
  • George MacKenzie
  • David Maclagan (1846-47)
  • George Buchanan (1847-48)
  • John Cay (1848-49)
  • Thomas Grainger (1849-51)
  • George Lees (1851-52)
  • David Stevenson (1852-53)
  • Rev P Holland (1853-54)
  • David Rhind (1854-55)
  • George Wilson (1855-57)
  • Edward Sang (1857-58)
  • Charles Piazzi Smyth (1858-59)
  • Thomas Stevenson (1859-60)
  • Alexander Bryson (1860-61)
  • Patrick Newbigging (1861-62)
  • Stevenson Macadam (1862-64)
  • Charles Cowan (1864-65)
  • Frederick Hallard (1865-66)
  • George Robertson (1866-68)
  • David Stevenson (1868-69)
  • Robert William Thomson (1869-71)
  • Thomas Ivory (1871-73)
  • Prof Thomas Croxen Archer (1873-75)
  • John Milne (1875-77)
  • Dr Robert McNair Ferguson (1877-79)
  • George Blanshard (1879-80)
  • Henry Cadell (1880-82)
  • Prof William Swan (1882-85)
  • David Bruce Peebles (1885-87)
  • Francis Brodie Imlach (1887-89)
  • John H A MacDonald (1889-91)
  • Alexander Leslie (1891-93)
  • Dr William Taylor (1893-95)
  • George Frederick Armstrong (1895-97)
  • Andrew Beatson Bell (1897-99)
  • William Ivison Macadam (1899-1901)
  • Dr Dawson Turner (1901-05)
  • Thomas Hudson Beare (1905-1908)
  • James Cameron Smail
  • Alexander Robert Horne
  • Stuart Monro
  • Allen Simpson
  • Robin Harper (2008)
  • References

    Royal Scottish Society of Arts Wikipedia