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Encyclopædia Britannica Third Edition
The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Third Edition (1797) is an 18-volume reference work, an edition of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. It was developed during the encyclopedia's earliest period as a two-man operation initiated by Colin Macfarquhar and Andrew Bell (engraver), Andrew Bell, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Most of the editing was done by Macfarquhar, and all the copperplates were created by Bell. History of the edition The third edition was produced between 1788 and 1797. Colin Macfarquhar, the editor of volumes 1–12, up to "Mysteries", died in 1793, age 48, of "mental exhaustion". His heirs were bought out by Bell, who became sole owner of Britannica. Bell hired George Gleig, later Bishop Gleig of Brechin (consecrated 30 October 1808), to carry on the job as editor for the remainder of the third edition. James Thomson (minister), James Thomson worked with Gleig on the editorial side. Gleig then also edited the 1801 and 1803 supplements. The third edition was expected to oc ...
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Natural Philosophy
Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe, while ignoring any supernatural influence. It was dominant before the development of modern science. From the ancient world (at least since Aristotle) until the 19th century, ''natural philosophy'' was the common term for the study of physics (nature), a broad term that included botany, zoology, anthropology, and chemistry as well as what is now called physics. It was in the 19th century that the concept of science received its modern shape, with different subjects within science emerging, such as astronomy, biology, and physics. Institutions and communities devoted to science were founded. Isaac Newton's book '' Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica'' (1687) (English: ''Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy'') reflects the use of the term ''natural philosophy'' in the 17th century. Even in the 1 ...
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Thomas Blacklock
Thomas Blacklock (10 November 1721 – 7 July 1791) was a Scottish poet who went blind in infancy. Life He was born near Annan, Dumfriesshire (now Dumfries and Galloway), of humble parentage, and lost his sight as a result of smallpox when six months old. He began to write poetry at the age of 12, and studied for the Church. He was appointed minister of Kirkcudbright, but was objected to by the parishioners on account of his blindness, and gave up the presentation on receiving an annuity. During the 1750s he was sponsored by the empiricist philosopher David Hume. He then retired to Edinburgh, where he took in boarders and became a tutor, with considerable success. He studied divinity and was made D.D. in 1767 from the Marischal College (later part of the University of Aberdeen). He published miscellaneous poems, some of which are preserved in the "Village Hymns for Social Worship" written by Asahel Nettleton and published in 1826. He is chiefly remembered for having written ...
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Andrew Duncan (physician)
Andrew Duncan, the elder (17 October 1744 – 5 July 1828) FRSE FRCPE FSA (Scot) was a British physician and professor at the University of Edinburgh. He was joint founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. As first proposer of an asylum in Edinburgh he gives his name to the Andrew Duncan Clinic which forms part of the Edinburgh City Hospital. Life Duncan was the second son of Andrew Duncan, merchant and shipmaster, of Crail, afterwards of St Andrews, his mother being a daughter of Professor William Vilant, and related to the Drummonds of Hawthornden. He was born at Pinkerton, near St Andrews, Fife, on 17 October 1744, and was educated first by Sandy Don of Crail, and afterwards by Richard Dick of St Andrews. Duncan proceeded next to University of St Andrews, where he obtained the M.A. degree in 1762. As a youth he was known as "the smiling boy", and his character for good nature was retained through life. Lord Erskine and his brother Henry Erskine were among his school fellow ...
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William Smellie (encyclopedist)
William Smellie (1740–1795) was a Scottish printer who Editor-in-chief of the Encyclopædia Britannica, edited the Encyclopædia Britannica First Edition, first edition of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. He was also a naturalist and antiquary. He was a joint founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, co-founder of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and a friend of Robert Burns. Early life He was born in The Pleasance, in south-east Edinburgh in 1740, the son of Jean Robertson and Alexander Smellie, architect and master builder. He was educated at Duddingston School then Royal High School, Edinburgh, Edinburgh High School. Smellie left school at the age of 12 to become an apprentice as a printer with Hamilton, Balfour & Neill in 1752. During this time he was promoted to the subeditorial position corrector of the press, and won his employers the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Philosophical Society's prize for the most accurately printed edition of a Latin text. O ...
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University Of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, second-oldest continuously operating university globally. It expanded rapidly from 1167, when Henry II of England, Henry II prohibited English students from attending the University of Paris. When disputes erupted between students and the Oxford townspeople, some Oxford academics fled northeast to Cambridge, where they established the University of Cambridge in 1209. The two English Ancient university, ancient universities share many common features and are jointly referred to as ''Oxbridge''. The University of Oxford comprises 43 constituent colleges, consisting of 36 Colleges of the University of Oxford, semi-autonomous colleges, four permanent private halls and three societies (colleges that are depar ...
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Master Of Arts (Oxford, Cambridge And Dublin)
In the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin, Bachelors of Arts (BAs) are promoted to the rank of Master of Arts (MA), typically upon application after three or four years after graduation. No further examination or study is required for this promotion, which is a mark of seniority rather than an additional postgraduate qualification. According to the formula of ''ad eundem gradum'', the graduates of the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin are eligible to apply to incorporate and be granted equivalent academic degrees at any of the other two universities, provided that they wish to register for such a degree or are members of the academic staff; they also pay a required fee. The example of the " Steamboat ladies" (roughly 720 women graduates of both Oxford and Cambridge who received Dublin academic degrees) is one of the most popular incidents of incorporation. While not an earned degree, both the original degree(s) and the incorporated ''ad eundem'' degree(s) a ...
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John Hutchinson (writer)
John Hutchinson (1674 – 28 August 1737) was an English theologian and natural philosopher. He was born at Spennithorne, Yorkshire, and served as steward in several families of position, latterly in that of the Duke of Somerset, who ultimately obtained for him the post of riding purveyor to the master of the horse, a sinecure worth about £200 a year. In 1700 he became acquainted with Dr. John Woodward (1665–1728), physician to the duke and author of a work entitled ''The Natural History of the Earth'', to whom he entrusted a large number of fossils of his own collecting, along with a mass of manuscript notes, for arrangement and publication. A misunderstanding as to the manner in which these should be dealt with was the immediate occasion of the publication by Hutchinson in 1724 of ''Moses's Principia'', part i., in which Woodward's ''Natural History'' was bitterly ridiculed, his conduct with regard to the mineralogical specimens not obscurely characterized, and a refutati ...
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William Jones (1726–1800)
William Jones (30 July 17266 January 1800), known as William Jones of Nayland, was a British clergyman and author. Life He was born at Lowick, Northamptonshire, but was descended from an old Welsh family. One of his ancestors was Colonel John Jones, brother-in-law of Oliver Cromwell. He was educated at Charterhouse School and University College, Oxford. There a taste for music, as well as a similarity of character, led to his close intimacy with George Horne, later bishop of Norwich, whom he induced to study Hutchinsonian doctrines. After obtaining his bachelor's degree at University College, Oxford in 1749, Jones held various preferments (Vicar of Bethersden, Kent (1764); Rector of Pluckley, Kent (1765)). In 1777 he obtained the perpetual curacy of Nayland, Suffolk, and on Horne's appointment to Norwich became his chaplain, afterwards writing his life. His vicarage became the centre of a High Church ''coterie'', and Jones himself was a link between the non-jurors and the ...
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Fire (classical Element)
Fire is one of the four classical elements along with earth, water and air in ancient Greek philosophy and science. Fire is considered to be both hot and dry and, according to Plato, is associated with the tetrahedron. Greek and Roman tradition Fire is one of the four classical elements in ancient Greek philosophy and science. It was commonly associated with the qualities of energy, assertiveness, and passion. In one Greek myth, Prometheus stole ''fire'' from the gods to protect the otherwise helpless humans, but was punished for this charity. Fire was one of many '' archai'' proposed by the pre-Socratics, most of whom sought to reduce the cosmos, or its creation, to a single substance. Heraclitus considered ''fire'' to be the most fundamental of all elements. He believed fire gave rise to the other three elements: "All things are an interchange for fire, and fire for all things, just like goods for gold and gold for goods." Diels-Kranz B90 (Freeman 9481970p. 45. He had ...
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