David Clarke
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780748678891
- eISBN:
- 9780748689286
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748678891.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Scottish Studies
The activities of the first local notable person related to Glasgow astronomy form this chapter. George Sinclair, Professor of Natural Philosophy, is known for his tracts on physics, astronomy, ...
More
The activities of the first local notable person related to Glasgow astronomy form this chapter. George Sinclair, Professor of Natural Philosophy, is known for his tracts on physics, astronomy, mathematics, religion and witchcraft. His chief astronomical text of 1688 on the ‘Celestial Sphere’ was ‘The Principles of Astronomy and Navigation’. He was notoriously accused of plagiarism on several occasions, particularly in claiming authorship of ‘Truth's Victory over Error’, a religious text simply translated from a Latin script of Dickson of Edinburgh. He wrote on the principles of coal mining, but it was suggested that he was better at ‘mining the minds of others’ rather than writing with originality. He observed Newton's Comet of 1681 but was taken to task by Professor Gregory of St Andrews on the uselessness of his observations. Other astronomical studies related to the secular movements of the Sun and Moon were also castigated in similar vain. He had a passion for understanding the behaviour of the barometer according to the weather and was the first person, at least in Scotland, to measure the heights of mountains by barometric pressure changes on their summits. He is also credited with inventing the diving bell for undersea wreck salvaging.Less
The activities of the first local notable person related to Glasgow astronomy form this chapter. George Sinclair, Professor of Natural Philosophy, is known for his tracts on physics, astronomy, mathematics, religion and witchcraft. His chief astronomical text of 1688 on the ‘Celestial Sphere’ was ‘The Principles of Astronomy and Navigation’. He was notoriously accused of plagiarism on several occasions, particularly in claiming authorship of ‘Truth's Victory over Error’, a religious text simply translated from a Latin script of Dickson of Edinburgh. He wrote on the principles of coal mining, but it was suggested that he was better at ‘mining the minds of others’ rather than writing with originality. He observed Newton's Comet of 1681 but was taken to task by Professor Gregory of St Andrews on the uselessness of his observations. Other astronomical studies related to the secular movements of the Sun and Moon were also castigated in similar vain. He had a passion for understanding the behaviour of the barometer according to the weather and was the first person, at least in Scotland, to measure the heights of mountains by barometric pressure changes on their summits. He is also credited with inventing the diving bell for undersea wreck salvaging.
Roger L. Emerson
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748625963
- eISBN:
- 9780748653652
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748625963.003.0015
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Scottish Studies
This chapter discusses the accomplishments of St Andrews during this period in trying to keep up with its competitors, though it failed to do so. It observes that St Andrews had shown concerns with ...
More
This chapter discusses the accomplishments of St Andrews during this period in trying to keep up with its competitors, though it failed to do so. It observes that St Andrews had shown concerns with science from at least 1668, when James Gregory I was appointed to the newly founded chair of mathematics. It reports that his teaching had been continued by his successor, William Sanders, who earlier had assisted Gregory in experiments related to polemics against George Sinclair. It further reports that James Gregory II, for a brief while, sustained the introduction of the ‘new science’, which in his case meant not Copernican and Galilean theories but Newtonianism, as can be seen from still-extant St Andrews theses of 1690.Less
This chapter discusses the accomplishments of St Andrews during this period in trying to keep up with its competitors, though it failed to do so. It observes that St Andrews had shown concerns with science from at least 1668, when James Gregory I was appointed to the newly founded chair of mathematics. It reports that his teaching had been continued by his successor, William Sanders, who earlier had assisted Gregory in experiments related to polemics against George Sinclair. It further reports that James Gregory II, for a brief while, sustained the introduction of the ‘new science’, which in his case meant not Copernican and Galilean theories but Newtonianism, as can be seen from still-extant St Andrews theses of 1690.
