George Buchanan FRSE

FRSSA 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 David Brewster, Sir David Brewster in 182 ...

(c. 1790, Montrose – 30 October 1852) was a Scottish civil engineer and

land surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is c ...

who worked primarily on bridges and harbours. He supervised the construction of the Scotland Street tunnel and the Granton to Edinburgh tunnel.

Life

Buchanan was third son of David Buchanan (1745-1812), a printer and publisher at Montrose, and was born about 1790. His father was a Glasite and an accomplished classical scholar, who published numerous edition of the Latin classics, which were in high repute for the accuracy. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh where he was a favourite pupil of

Sir John Leslie Sir John Leslie, FRSE KH (10 April 1766 – 3 November 1832) was a Scottish mathematician and physicist best remembered for his research into heat. Leslie gave the first modern account of capillary action in 1802 and froze water using an a ...

. About 1812, he began business as a

, however his inclination toward scientific topics soon led him to devote himself to the profession of a civil engineer. In this capacity, he was engaged in several public works of importance, in construction of harbours an bridges, and made a considerable local reputation. In 1822, on the invitation of the directors of the School of Arts, he delivered a course of lectures on mechanical philosophy in the Freemasons' Hall, remarkable for the original and striking experiments. Buchanan afterwards gave one or two courses of lectures on natural philosophy, but his increasing business as an engineer interfered with any further educational work. In 1827, he drew up a report on the South Esk estuary at Montrose in relation to a question then in dispute concerning salmon fishing. This report attracted the attention and gained the marked commendation of Lord-justice-clerk Charles Hope, Lord Granton, then solicitor-general, who afterwards, as long as he remained at the bar, always gave the advice in any case involving scientific evidence to 'secure Buchanan.' Subsequently, in all the important salmon-fishing questions which arose, and which embraced nearly every estuary in Scotland, Buchanan's services were enlisted, the point be generally to determine where the river ended and the sea began. He was considered a legal authority on salmon fishing disputes. When the tunnel of the Edinburgh and Granton railway was being constructed under the New Town, and the adjacent buildings were considered in imminent danger, Buchanan was commissioned by the

Sheriff of Edinburgh The Sheriff of Edinburgh was historically the royal official responsible for enforcing law and order and bringing criminals to justice in the shire of Edinburgh (also known as Edinburghshire or Midlothian) in Scotland. In 1482 the burgh of Edinbu ...

to supervise the works on behalf of the city. In 1848, he began the work of erecting the tall chimney, nearly in height, of the Edinburgh Gasworks, and carried cut a series of experiments to assure its stability. He communicated an account of this work in detail in two papers read before the

Royal Scottish Society of Arts 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 ...

. Buchanan was the author of several scientific treatises. He published a 'Report on the Theory and Application of Leslie's Photometer'. He communicated a series of papers in 1851 to the

Edinburgh Courant The ''Edinburgh Courant'' was a broadsheet newspaper from the 18th century. It was published out of Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. Its first issue was dated February 14–19, 1705 and was sold for a penny. It was Scotland's first regional newsp ...

newspaper on pendulum experiments relating to the earth's rotation, and was a regular contributor to the 'Transactions of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts.' He also contributed the article on 'furnaces' to the eighth edition of the 'Encyclopædia Britannica.' He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and was elected president of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts for the session 1647–8. In the 1830s he was living at 14 Dundas Street in Edinburgh's New Town. In 1833 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, being proposed by Robert Stevenson. In 1847 he was elected President of the

. He died of lung disease on 30 Oct. 1852.

Family

David Buchanan (1779-1848), and William Buchanan (1781-1863) were his elder brothers. He married Charlotte Barnard, sister of Sarah Barnard, the wife of

Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Buchanan, George 1790 births 1852 deaths Scottish civil engineers 19th-century Scottish people People from Montrose, Angus Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British bridge engineers Harbour engineers Scottish surveyors Scottish lexicographers 19th-century lexicographers