The ''Edinburgh Encyclopædia'' is an encyclopaedia in 18 volumes, printed and published by William Blackwood and edited by

David Brewster Sir David Brewster Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order, KH President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, PRSE Fellow of the Royal Society of London, FRS Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, FSA Scot Fellow of the Scottish Society of ...

between 1808 and 1830. In competition with the Edinburgh-published ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

'', the ''Edinburgh Encyclopædia'' is generally considered to be strongest on scientific topics, where many of the articles were written by the editor. The ''Edinburgh Encyclopædia'' was originally planned to encompassed 12 volumes, but by the time the final volume was published, in 1830, it counted 18 volumes. Some subjects, such as the polarization of light and

electromagnetism In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge via electromagnetic fields. The electromagnetic force is one of the four fundamental forces of nature. It is the dominant force in the interacti ...

, had not even been heard of when the project began, and yet the Encyclopedia had articles on them. The electromagnetism article was even contributed by

Hans Christian Ørsted Hans Christian Ørsted (; 14 August 1777 – 9 March 1851), sometimes Transliteration, transliterated as Oersted ( ), was a Danish chemist and physicist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields. This phenomenon is known as ...

, the founder of modern electromagnetic studies. It also included information on contemporary events such as Christopher Hansteen's 1829 expedition to Siberia. In 1815

William Elford Leach William Elford Leach (2 February 1791 – 25 August 1836) was an English zoologist and marine biologist. Life and work Elford Leach was born at Hoe Gate, Plymouth, the son of an attorney. At the age of twelve he began a medical apprenticesh ...

published the first bibliography of entomology in Brewster's ''Edinburgh Encyclopædia'' (see Timeline of entomology – 1800–1850).

Joseph Parker Joseph Dennis Parker, (born 9 January 1992) is a New Zealand professional boxer. He has held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Interim championship, interim heavyweight title since 2024. Previously, he held the WBO heavyweight title from 2016 ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and Whiting & Watson of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

printed American editions, both in 1832.

Contributors

A list of major contributors, with indications of their articles, was published in 1830. Other contributors – "Gentlemen Eminent in Science and Literature" – included Adam Anderson,

Charles Babbage Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer. Babbage is considered ...

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian, and philosopher. Known as the "Sage writing, sage of Chelsea, London, Chelsea", his writings strongly influenced the intellectual and artistic culture of the V ...

, Robert Gordon,

Robert Edmond Grant Robert Edmond Grant MD FRCPEd FRS FRSE FZS FGS (11 November 1793 – 23 August 1874) was a British anatomist and zoologist. Life Grant was born at Argyll Square in Edinburgh (demolished to create Chambers Street), the son of Alexander Gra ...

, John Leslie, Henry Liston, John Gibson Lockhart and

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotland, as well ...

. * Thomas Allan * Adam Anderson * Alexander Annesley *

''("

Notation In linguistics and semiotics, a notation system is a system of graphics or symbols, Character_(symbol), characters and abbreviated Expression (language), expressions, used (for example) in Artistic disciplines, artistic and scientific disciplines ...

", "

Porisms A porism is a mathematical proposition or corollary. It has been used to refer to a direct consequence of a Mathematical proof, proof, analogous to how a corollary refers to a direct consequence of a theorem. In modern usage, it is a relationship t ...

")'' * Robert Bald * Alexander Balfour * John Barclay * Peter Barlow * James Bell * Jacob Berzelius * J. B. Biot *

Philip Bliss Philip Paul Bliss (9 July 1838 – 29 December 1876) was an American composer, conductor, writer of hymns and a bass-baritone Gospel singer. He wrote many well-known hymns, including "Hold the Fort" (1870), "Almost Persuaded" (1871); "Hallelujah ...

* James Bonar * John Bostock *

* G. Brewster * James Brewster * Patrick Brewster * David Brown *

Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and author Entertainers and artists * Washboard Sam or Robert Brown (1910–1966), American musician and singer * Robert W. Brown (1917–2009), American printmaker ...

* William Brown * H. R. Brown * David Buchanan * Robertson Buchanan * Rev. W. Burns *

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

* Thomas Campbell *Archibald Campbell *

Thomas Chalmers Thomas Chalmers (17 March 178031 May 1847), was a Scottish Presbyterian minister, professor of theology, political economist, and a leader of both the Church of Scotland and of the Free Church of Scotland (1843—1900), Free Church of Scotl ...

* James Cleland * John Clennel * John Colquhoun * John Davies * John Graham Dalyell * J. Denholm * David Dickson * Thomas Lauder Dick *Lieutenant-General Alexander Dirom * Henry Dewar * Archdeacon Drummond * Henry Duncan * John Duncan * Rev. Thomas Duncan * Thomas Duncan * George Dunbar *

James Erskine James Erskine may refer to: *James Erskine, 6th Earl of Buchan (died 1640) *James Erskine, 7th Earl of Buchan (died 1664), Earl of Buchan *Sir James Erskine, 2nd Baronet (c. 1670–1693), of the Erskine baronets *James Erski ...

* William Edgeworth * James Esdaile * John Farey, senior * John Farey, junior * Andrew Ferguson * Denis Ferral * John Fleming * James D. Forbes * Andrew Fyffe * William Galbraith * Thomas Galloway * Alexander Galloway; ''(wrote the " Perspective" article, and was an acquaintance of

)'' * James Geddes * Patrick Gibson * Charles Giesecke * John Gordon * Robert Gordon * James Grahame * Robert Grant * James Grierson *John Gunn * George Harvey * William Jory Henwood * J. F. W. Herschel ''(" Isoperimetrical Problems", "

Mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

")'' * Samuel Hibbert * John Hodgson * James Innes *

David Irving David John Cawdell Irving (born 24 March 1938) is an English author and Holocaust denier who has written on the military and political history of World War II, especially Nazi Germany. He was found to be a Holocaust denier in a British court ...

* Alexander Irvine * Josiah Kirby * Robert Kirkwood * Thomas Jackson *

Robert Jameson image:Robert Jameson.jpg, Robert Jameson Robert Jameson Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS FRSE (11 July 1774 – 19 April 1854) was a Scottish natural history, naturalist and mineralogist. As Regius Professor of Natural History at the Univers ...

* John Jamieson * George Kellie * Robert Kerr * William Laidlaw *

Dionysius Lardner Dionysius Lardner FRS FRSE (3 April 179329 April 1859) was an Irish scientific writer who popularised science and technology, and edited the 133-volume '' Cabinet Cyclopædia''. Early life in Dublin He was born in Dublin on 3 April 1793 th ...

* William Leach * John Lee * John Leslie * Henry Liston * John Lizars * J. G. Lockhart * John Loudon * Joseph Lowe * Robert Lundie * Robert Lyall * A. Macarthur * Charles Mackenzie * George Mackenzie * James Macdonald * Archduke Maximilian * Mr. Maclaurin * J. R. MacCulloch * John MacCulloch * William Memes * J. Morell * Walter Morison * Lockhart Muirhead *William Muller * John Murray * Hugh Murray * Thomas Murray * Andrew Mylne * John Narien * James Nicol * Patrick Neill * Peter Nicholson * Alexander Nimmo *

* George Peacock * William Pearson * Alexander Peterkin * John Pond * Richard Poole ''(wrote on "

Language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

", "

Mind The mind is that which thinks, feels, perceives, imagines, remembers, and wills. It covers the totality of mental phenomena, including both conscious processes, through which an individual is aware of external and internal circumstances ...

", "

Philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

" and "

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

")'' * William Percivall * John Ramsay * William Ramsay *

Thomas Reid Thomas Reid (; 7 May (Julian calendar, O.S. 26 April) 1710 – 7 October 1796) was a religiously trained Scotland, Scottish philosophy, philosopher best known for his philosophical method, his #Thomas_Reid's_theory_of_common_sense, theory of ...

* William Ritchie * Abraham Robertson * John Robison * William Scoresby * Alexander Scott * John Corse Scott * Robert Eden Scott * James Simpson * Rev. W. Singer * J. C. Simonde de Sismondi * James Skene * Thomas Somerville * Robert Stevenson * William Stevenson, ''(the father of

Elizabeth Gaskell Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (''née'' Stevenson; 29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to as Mrs Gaskell, was an English novelist, biographer, and short story writer. Her novels offer detailed studies of Victorian era, Victoria ...

; article "

Chivalry Chivalry, or the chivalric language, is an informal and varying code of conduct that developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It is associated with the medieval Christianity, Christian institution of knighthood, with knights being members of ...

" out of a total of around 50)'' * Andrew Mitchell Thomson, ''(part-owner)'' * John Thomson * Thomas Traill * Rev. J. M. Turner * Edmund Turrel * William Tytler * Rev. W. Wade * Josiah Walker *

William Wallace Sir William Wallace (, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army at the Battle of St ...

James Watt James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was f ...

* James Wilson * John Yule

References

External links

Complete First British and First and Second American editions
at the

Online Books Page The Online Books Page is an index of e-text books available on the Internet. It is edited by John Mark Ockerbloom and is hosted by the library of the University of Pennsylvania. The Online Books Page lists over 2 million books and has several fe ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edinburgh Encyclopaedia 1808 in literature 1808 introductions Book series introduced in the 1800s Scottish encyclopedias Scottish books History of Edinburgh Culture in Edinburgh Reference works in the public domain Publications established in 1808 1808 establishments in Scotland 1808 non-fiction books William Blackwood books 19th-century encyclopedias 19th-century British literature

Contributors

References

Further reading

External links