John Amyatt

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

was an English chemist. He was appointed King's Chemist on 24 October 1776 and the office was abolished on 14 November 1782. Amyatt, described as "a very sensible and agreeable English gentleman", is remembered for one of the most famous quotes from the

Scottish Enlightenment The Scottish Enlightenment ( sco, Scots Enlichtenment, gd, Soillseachadh na h-Alba) was the period in 18th- and early-19th-century Scotland characterised by an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. By the eighteenth century ...

. He once observed to William Smellie, the editor of the

first edition The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants. First edition According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a b ...

of the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

'', that "Edinburgh enjoyed a noble privilege not possessed by any other city in Europe". When asked what he meant by that, Amyatt replied:

"Here stand I at what is called the Cross of Edinburgh, and can in a few minutes take fifty men of genius by the hand"

The "Cross of Edinburgh" is the Mercat Cross, which was the focus of both commercial and social life in the royal burgh during the 18th century.

References

Scientists from London 18th-century English chemists Founder Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Members of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh Year of birth missing Year of death missing Place of birth missing People of the Scottish Enlightenment {{UK-chemist-stub