171-847: The Moray House School of Education and Sport ('Moray House') is a school within the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Science at the University of Edinburgh . It is based in historic buildings on the Holyrood Campus, located between the Canongate and Holyrood Road. The school offers academic programmes at all levels of higher education , including teacher education, Community Education , Digital Education, Language Education, Physical Education and Sports science . The School has approximately 2000 students and nearly 500 academic and professional staff. The school has existed in one form or another since
342-512: A Faculty of Law in 1707, a Faculty of Arts in 1708, and a Faculty of Medicine in 1726. In 1762, Reverend Hugh Blair was appointed by King George III as the first Regius Professor of Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres . This formalised literature as a subject and marks the foundation of the English Literature department, making Edinburgh the oldest centre of literary education in Britain. During
513-538: A century before, were first observed . In 2019, the international collaboration Event Horizon Telescope presented the first direct image of a black hole 's accretion disc . Modern science is commonly divided into three major branches : natural science , social science , and formal science . Each of these branches comprises various specialised yet overlapping scientific disciplines that often possess their own nomenclature and expertise. Both natural and social sciences are empirical sciences , as their knowledge
684-474: A discipline. Ideas on human nature, society, and economics evolved during the Enlightenment. Hume and other Scottish Enlightenment thinkers developed A Treatise of Human Nature , which was expressed historically in works by authors including James Burnett , Adam Ferguson , John Millar and William Robertson , all of whom merged a scientific study of how humans behaved in ancient and primitive cultures with
855-411: A few of their scientific predecessors – Galileo , Kepler , Boyle , and Newton principally – as the guides to every physical and social field of the day. The 18th century saw significant advancements in the practice of medicine and physics; the development of biological taxonomy by Carl Linnaeus ; a new understanding of magnetism and electricity; and the maturation of chemistry as
1026-718: A government visitation in 1690. The university was subsequently led by Principal Gilbert Rule , one of the inquisitors on the visitation committee. "You are now in a place where the best courses upon earth are within your reach... Such an opportunity you will never again have. I would therefore strongly press on you to fix no other limit to your stay in Edinborough than your having got thro this whole course. The omission of any one part of it will be an affliction & loss to you as long as you live." Thomas Jefferson , writing to his son-in-law Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr. in 1786. The late 17th and early 18th centuries were marked by
1197-423: A greater role in knowledge creation and it was not until the 19th century that many of the institutional and professional features of science began to take shape, along with the changing of "natural philosophy" to "natural science". New knowledge in science is advanced by research from scientists who are motivated by curiosity about the world and a desire to solve problems. Contemporary scientific research
1368-466: A highly stable universe where there could be little loss of resources. However, with the advent of the steam engine and the Industrial Revolution there was an increased understanding that not all forms of energy have the same energy qualities , the ease of conversion to useful work or to another form of energy. This realisation led to the development of the laws of thermodynamics , in which
1539-455: A hypothesis proves unsatisfactory it is modified or discarded. If the hypothesis survives testing, it may become adopted into the framework of a scientific theory , a validly reasoned , self-consistent model or framework for describing the behaviour of certain natural events. A theory typically describes the behaviour of much broader sets of observations than a hypothesis; commonly, a large number of hypotheses can be logically bound together by
1710-407: A new non- teleological way. This implied a shift in the view of objects: objects were now considered as having no innate goals. Leibniz assumed that different types of things all work according to the same general laws of nature, with no special formal or final causes. During this time the declared purpose and value of science became producing wealth and inventions that would improve human lives, in
1881-572: A number of other Research Groups. The buildings of Moray House are located on the Holyrood campus adjacent to the Canongate in Edinburgh . During the nineteenth century, part of the original open area to the west of St John's Street and north of the South Back was occupied by breweries . These made use of the high-quality water from the springs and wells in this part of the Canongate . In response to
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#17328586009792052-660: A partnership with the Centre for Genomic & Experimental Medicine and the ECRC to create the Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine (renamed the Institute of Genetics and Cancer in 2021) on the same site. In April 2008, the Roslin Institute – an animal sciences research centre known for cloning Dolly the sheep – became part of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. In 2011,
2223-399: A power struggle between the university and town council, which had ultimate authority over staff appointments, curricula, and examinations. After a series of challenges by the university, the conflict culminated in the council seizing the college records in 1704. Relations were only gradually repaired over the next 150 years and suffered repeated setbacks. The university expanded by founding
2394-458: A preference for one outcome over another. Eliminating the bias can be achieved through transparency, careful experimental design , and a thorough peer review process of the experimental results and conclusions. After the results of an experiment are announced or published, it is normal practice for independent researchers to double-check how the research was performed, and to follow up by performing similar experiments to determine how dependable
2565-456: A priori disciplines and because of this, there is disagreement on whether they constitute a science. Nevertheless, the formal sciences play an important role in the empirical sciences. Calculus , for example, was initially invented to understand motion in physics. Natural and social sciences that rely heavily on mathematical applications include mathematical physics , chemistry , biology , finance , and economics . Applied science
2736-595: A proposed Library and a Theatre fronting onto Holyrood Road. These buildings in turn were to be connected with the St Leonard's Land building on the opposite side Holyrood Road. In the event these plans were ruled out by the SED in 1978. The Theatre was never built and a new Library was eventually developed in Dalhousie Land. Chessel's Land takes its name from Archibald Chessel , a successful wright to trade and stalwart member of
2907-400: A revolution in information technology and the rise of the global internet and mobile computing , including smartphones . The need for mass systematisation of long, intertwined causal chains and large amounts of data led to the rise of the fields of systems theory and computer-assisted scientific modelling . The Human Genome Project was completed in 2003 by identifying and mapping all of
3078-445: A sculptured wall (and a fourth panel), which were commissioned from David Miller, a member of staff at Moray House. The wall was cast in reinforced concrete into expanded polystyrene moulds. The sculpture was created in a continuous twenty-nine-hour operation by Arnott McLeod, Building Contractors. The four panels all symbolise an aspect of educational theory: Dalhousie Land is the library and ICT centre on Holyrood campus. It
3249-457: A separate discipline from philosophy when Wilhelm Wundt founded the first laboratory for psychological research in 1879. During the mid-19th century Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace independently proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection in 1858, which explained how different plants and animals originated and evolved. Their theory was set out in detail in Darwin's book On
3420-586: A series of corridors. The Easter Bush campus, located seven miles south of the city, houses the Jeanne Marchig International Centre for Animal Welfare Education, Roslin Institute , Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, and Veterinary Oncology and Imaging Centre. The Roslin Institute is an animal sciences research institute which is sponsored by BBSRC . The Institute won international fame in 1996, when its researchers Sir Ian Wilmut , Keith Campbell and their colleagues created Dolly
3591-475: A set of basic assumptions that are needed to justify the scientific method: there is an objective reality shared by all rational observers; this objective reality is governed by natural laws ; these laws were discovered by means of systematic observation and experimentation. Mathematics is essential in the formation of hypotheses , theories , and laws, because it is used extensively in quantitative modelling, observing, and collecting measurements . Statistics
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#17328586009793762-463: A set of rules. It includes mathematics, systems theory , and theoretical computer science . The formal sciences share similarities with the other two branches by relying on objective, careful, and systematic study of an area of knowledge. They are, however, different from the empirical sciences as they rely exclusively on deductive reasoning, without the need for empirical evidence, to verify their abstract concepts. The formal sciences are therefore
3933-467: A single regent; and the lack of land endowments as its source of income, which meant its faculty operated in a more competitive environment. Between 1750 and 1800, this system produced and attracted key Enlightenment figures such as chemist Joseph Black , economist Adam Smith , historian William Robertson , philosophers David Hume and Dugald Stewart , physician William Cullen , and early sociologist Adam Ferguson , many of which taught concurrently. By
4104-478: A single theory. Thus, a theory is a hypothesis explaining various other hypotheses. In that vein, theories are formulated according to most of the same scientific principles as hypotheses. Scientists may generate a model , an attempt to describe or depict an observation in terms of a logical, physical or mathematical representation, and to generate new hypotheses that can be tested by experimentation. While performing experiments to test hypotheses, scientists may have
4275-525: A small courtyard. The earliest building was Mary, Countess of Home's 1618 mansion. The Regent's House to the east followed, probably before 1647. Finally the New House was built to the south in 1755. The Old Nursery School building is currently the school reception. The building was converted to become the School Reception and Moray House College Archive in 1999 by Lewis and Hickey. As a listed building it
4446-429: A strong awareness of the determining forces of modernity . Modern sociology largely originated from this movement. In 1776, Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations , which is often considered the first work on modern economics. During the nineteenth century many distinguishing characteristics of contemporary modern science began to take shape. These included the transformation of the life and physical sciences;
4617-438: A unified theory in the early 20th-century when the modern synthesis reconciled Darwinian evolution with classical genetics . Albert Einstein 's theory of relativity and the development of quantum mechanics complement classical mechanics to describe physics in extreme length , time and gravity . Widespread use of integrated circuits in the last quarter of the 20th century combined with communications satellites led to
4788-593: A university court and a general council, and redefined the roles of key officials like the chancellor, rector, and principal. The Edinburgh Seven were the first group of matriculated undergraduate female students at any British university. Led by Sophia Jex-Blake , they began studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1869. Although the university blocked them from graduating and qualifying as doctors, their campaign gained national attention and won them many supporters, including Charles Darwin . Their efforts put
4959-487: Is based on empirical observations and is capable of being tested for its validity by other researchers working under the same conditions. Natural science is the study of the physical world. It can be divided into two main branches: life science and physical science . These two branches may be further divided into more specialised disciplines. For example, physical science can be subdivided into physics, chemistry , astronomy , and earth science . Modern natural science
5130-439: Is becoming a central feature of computational contributions to science, for example in agent-based computational economics , random forests , topic modeling and various forms of prediction. However, machines alone rarely advance knowledge as they require human guidance and capacity to reason; and they can introduce bias against certain social groups or sometimes underperform against humans. Interdisciplinary science involves
5301-499: Is claimed as the congregation's first minister (1560–1572). The building dates from 1881/2. The architects were Anderson and Browne. It stands on the site of the old drying green originally provided by the Earl of Wemyss to the residents of St John's Street in the 18th century. In 1944 Moray House acquired the Old Kirk and its adjacent Hall. Following a major adaptation it became the base for
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5472-646: Is considered to be one of the most important publications in medicine and was used until the 18th century. By the eleventh century most of Europe had become Christian, and in 1088, the University of Bologna emerged as the first university in Europe. As such, demand for Latin translation of ancient and scientific texts grew, a major contributor to the Renaissance of the 12th century . Renaissance scholasticism in western Europe flourished, with experiments done by observing, describing, and classifying subjects in nature. In
5643-413: Is currently a base for construction workers on adjacent sites. Old Moray House is an aristocratic mansion built after 1618. The building boasts massive obelisks flanking the gate and two very fine rooms up a turnpike stair, with elaborate original plaster ceilings and 18th Century panelling. Mary Sutton, dowager Countess of Home was the builder. Although it has been much altered by its occupants down
5814-535: Is highly collaborative and is usually done by teams in academic and research institutions , government agencies, and companies. The practical impact of their work has led to the emergence of science policies that seek to influence the scientific enterprise by prioritising the ethical and moral development of commercial products, armaments, health care, public infrastructure, and environmental protection . The word science has been used in Middle English since
5985-676: Is located nearby, as is Edinburgh College of Art in Lauriston . North of George Square lies the university's Old College housing Edinburgh Law School , New College on The Mound housing the School of Divinity, and St Cecilia's Hall . Some of these buildings are used to host events during the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe every summer. Pollock Halls, adjoining Holyrood Park to
6156-476: Is said that the family and Archibald Johnston watched the captive Earl of Montrose being taken up the High Street. Their encounter was depicted in 1859 by the history painter James Drummond . In the 1650s the house was taken from Margaret Home, Countess of Moray for the use of Oliver Cromwell . The current Old Moray House, developed from a group of three buildings of different ages, originally grouped around
6327-535: Is the eighth-largest university in the UK by enrolment and receives over 69,000 undergraduate applications per year, making it the third-most popular university in the UK by application volume. In 2021, Edinburgh had the seventh-highest average UCAS points among British universities for new entrants. The university maintains strong links to the royal family , with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh , serving as its chancellor from 1953 to 2010, and Anne, Princess Royal , holding
6498-447: Is the search for solutions to practical problems using this knowledge. Most understanding comes from basic research, though sometimes applied research targets specific practical problems. This leads to technological advances that were not previously imaginable. Scientific research involves using the scientific method , which seeks to objectively explain the events of nature in a reproducible way. Scientists usually take for granted
6669-526: Is the successor to the natural philosophy that began in Ancient Greece . Galileo , Descartes , Bacon , and Newton debated the benefits of using approaches that were more mathematical and more experimental in a methodical way. Still, philosophical perspectives, conjectures , and presuppositions , often overlooked, remain necessary in natural science. Systematic data collection, including discovery science , succeeded natural history , which emerged in
6840-478: Is the university's governing body and the legal person of the university, chaired by the rector and consisting of the principal, Lord Provost of Edinburgh , and of Assessors appointed by the rector, chancellor, Edinburgh Town Council , General Council, and Senatus Academicus . By the Universities (Scotland) Act 1889, it is a body corporate, with perpetual succession and a common seal. All property belonging to
7011-427: Is the use of the scientific method and knowledge to attain practical goals and includes a broad range of disciplines such as engineering and medicine. Engineering is the use of scientific principles to invent, design and build machines, structures and technologies. Science may contribute to the development of new technologies. Medicine is the practice of caring for patients by maintaining and restoring health through
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7182-403: Is used to make falsifiable predictions, which are typically posted before being tested by experimentation. Disproof of a prediction is evidence of progress. Experimentation is especially important in science to help establish causal relationships to avoid the correlation fallacy , though in some sciences such as astronomy or geology, a predicted observation might be more appropriate. When
7353-410: Is used to summarise and analyse data, which allows scientists to assess the reliability of experimental results. In the scientific method an explanatory thought experiment or hypothesis is put forward as an explanation using parsimony principles and is expected to seek consilience – fitting with other accepted facts related to an observation or scientific question. This tentative explanation
7524-610: The Byzantine empire and Arabic translations were done by groups such as the Nestorians and the Monophysites . Under the Caliphate , these Arabic translations were later improved and developed by Arabic scientists. By the 6th and 7th centuries, the neighbouring Sassanid Empire established the medical Academy of Gondeshapur , which is considered by Greek, Syriac, and Persian physicians as
7695-541: The Canongate . From 1864 to 1907 its Rector was Maurice Paterson LLD. In 1907, this institution merged with its Church of Scotland equivalent (the Church of Scotland Training College) and the Edinburgh Provincial Training Centre was formed, with the church training colleges subsumed within this organisation. The new teaching building opened at Moray House in 1931. Moray House College of Education
7866-706: The Early Middle Ages (400 to 1000 CE), but in the Medieval renaissances ( Carolingian Renaissance , Ottonian Renaissance and the Renaissance of the 12th century ) scholarship flourished again. Some Greek manuscripts lost in Western Europe were preserved and expanded upon in the Middle East during the Islamic Golden Age , along with the later efforts of Byzantine Greek scholars who brought Greek manuscripts from
8037-848: The Edinburgh Cowgate fire destroyed a number of university buildings, including some 3,000 m (32,000 sq ft) of the School of Informatics at 80 South Bridge . This was replaced with the Informatics Forum on Bristo Square , completed in July 2008. Also in 2002, the Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre (ECRC) was opened on the Western General Hospital site. In 2007, the MRC Human Genetics Unit formed
8208-638: The Joseph Black Building), housing the Department of Chemistry . The campus was named King's Buildings in honour of George V. New College on The Mound was originally opened in 1846 as a Free Church of Scotland college, later of the United Free Church of Scotland . Since the 1930s it has been the home of the School of Divinity. Prior to the 1929 reunion of the Church of Scotland , candidates for
8379-712: The Little France area of Edinburgh. The new campus was named the BioQuarter . The Chancellor's Building was opened on 12 August 2002 by Prince Philip , housing the new Edinburgh Medical School alongside the new Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. In 2007, the campus saw the addition of the Euan MacDonald Centre as a research centre for motor neuron diseases , which was part-funded by Scottish entrepreneur Euan MacDonald and his father Donald. In August 2010, author J. K. Rowling provided £10 million in funding to create
8550-634: The Old Town . The bulk of the buildings were on land formerly occupied by the Edinburgh and Leith Brewery and before that by the Old Edinburgh Playhouse. Chessel's Land was one of three buildings designed by architects Graham and Dey and constructed in the early 1970s; it opened in January 1974. It was unused for a number of years and demolished in 2013 to make way for student accommodation. Chessel's Land
8721-599: The Proto-Italic language as * skije- or * skijo- meaning "to know", which may originate from Proto-Indo-European language as *skh 1 -ie , *skh 1 -io , meaning "to incise". The Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben proposed sciō is a back-formation of nescīre , meaning "to not know, be unfamiliar with", which may derive from Proto-Indo-European *sekH- in Latin secāre , or *skh 2 - , from *sḱʰeh2(i)- meaning "to cut". In
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#17328586009798892-567: The Royal Fine Art Commission raised an objection to the planned height of the building. Consequently, the building of the finally agreed six storeys wasn't started until December 1966. Subsequent delays arising from industrial disputes meant the facility wasn't handed over until February 1969. Following advice from the Edinburgh City Archivist this teaching block was named Charteris Land. The front of Charteris Land boasts
9063-623: The School of Chemistry ), Royal Observatory , Swann Building (the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology), Waddington Building (the Centre for Systems Biology at Edinburgh), William Rankine Building (School of Engineering's Institute for Infrastructure and Environment), and others. Until 2012, the KB campus was served by three libraries: Darwin Library, James Clerk Maxwell Library, and Robertson Engineering and Science Library. These were replaced by
9234-579: The Senatus is to regulate and supervise the teaching and discipline of the university and to promote research. The Senatus elects four Assessors on the University Court. The Senatus meets three times per year, hosting a presentation and discussion session which is open to all members of staff at each meeting. The university's three most significant officials are its chancellor, rector, and principal, whose rights and responsibilities are largely derived from
9405-576: The Tron Kirk who lived in the eighteenth century. He built the nearby Chessel's Court between 1745 and 1748. These were much-admired mansion flats built to accommodate persons of standing. They are still standing today and remain as private flats. In 1993 Chessel's Land became the base for the Aesthetic Studies Department, when Drama studios were added. In 1996 Music was transferred from Old Moray House. With St Mary's Land, Chessel's Land
9576-1054: The University of Edinburgh becoming its Faculty of Education . Following internal restructuring of the University of Edinburgh in 2002, Moray House became known as the Moray House School of Education . In August 2019, Moray House School of Education was renamed Moray House School of Education and Sport . It is currently subdivided into four Institutes: The School has seven thematic Research Hubs: Advanced Quantitative Research in Education; Children and Young People; Digital Education; Language, Interculturality and Literacies; Social Justice and Inclusion; Sport-Related Research; and Teacher Education, Curriculum and Pedagogy. In addition, Moray House has several Research Centres: Centre for Research in Digital Education; Centre for Research in Education, Inclusion and Diversity (CREID); and Physical Activity for Health Research Centre (PAHRC), along with
9747-555: The camera obscura and the telescope . At the start of the Renaissance, Roger Bacon , Vitello , and John Peckham each built up a scholastic ontology upon a causal chain beginning with sensation, perception, and finally apperception of the individual and universal forms of Aristotle. A model of vision later known as perspectivism was exploited and studied by the artists of the Renaissance. This theory uses only three of Aristotle's four causes: formal, material, and final. In
9918-424: The fiscal year ending 31 July 2023, the university had a total income of £1.341 billion, with £339.5 million from research grants and contracts. It has the third-largest endowment in the UK, behind only Cambridge and Oxford . The university occupies five main campuses in the city of Edinburgh, which include many buildings of historical and architectural significance, such as those in the Old Town . Edinburgh
10089-424: The historical method , case studies , and cross-cultural studies . Moreover, if quantitative information is available, social scientists may rely on statistical approaches to better understand social relationships and processes. Formal science is an area of study that generates knowledge using formal systems . A formal system is an abstract structure used for inferring theorems from axioms according to
10260-431: The materialistic sense of having more food, clothing, and other things. In Bacon's words , "the real and legitimate goal of sciences is the endowment of human life with new inventions and riches ", and he discouraged scientists from pursuing intangible philosophical or spiritual ideas, which he believed contributed little to human happiness beyond "the fume of subtle, sublime or pleasing [speculation]". Science during
10431-456: The physical world ; and the behavioural sciences (e.g., economics , psychology , and sociology ), which study individuals and societies. The formal sciences (e.g., logic , mathematics, and theoretical computer science ), which study formal systems governed by axioms and rules, are sometimes described as being sciences as well; however, they are often regarded as a separate field because they rely on deductive reasoning instead of
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#173285860097910602-499: The prevention , diagnosis , and treatment of injury or disease. The applied sciences are often contrasted with the basic sciences , which are focused on advancing scientific theories and laws that explain and predict events in the natural world. Computational science applies computing power to simulate real-world situations, enabling a better understanding of scientific problems than formal mathematics alone can achieve. The use of machine learning and artificial intelligence
10773-521: The scientific method or empirical evidence as their main methodology. Applied sciences are disciplines that use scientific knowledge for practical purposes, such as engineering and medicine . The history of science spans the majority of the historical record, with the earliest written records of identifiable predecessors to modern science dating to Bronze Age Egypt and Mesopotamia from around 3000 to 1200 BCE . Their contributions to mathematics, astronomy , and medicine entered and shaped
10944-481: The theory of impetus . His criticism served as an inspiration to medieval scholars and Galileo Galilei, who extensively cited his works ten centuries later. During late antiquity and the early Middle Ages , natural phenomena were mainly examined via the Aristotelian approach. The approach includes Aristotle's four causes : material, formal, moving, and final cause. Many Greek classical texts were preserved by
11115-530: The town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and officially opened in 1583, it is one of Scotland's four ancient universities and the sixth-oldest university in continuous operation in the English-speaking world . The university played a crucial role in Edinburgh becoming a leading intellectual centre during the Scottish Enlightenment and contributed to
11286-406: The 13th century, medical teachers and students at Bologna began opening human bodies, leading to the first anatomy textbook based on human dissection by Mondino de Luzzi . New developments in optics played a role in the inception of the Renaissance , both by challenging long-held metaphysical ideas on perception, as well as by contributing to the improvement and development of technology such as
11457-707: The 14th century in the sense of "the state of knowing". The word was borrowed from the Anglo-Norman language as the suffix -cience , which was borrowed from the Latin word scientia , meaning "knowledge, awareness, understanding". It is a noun derivative of the Latin sciens meaning "knowing", and undisputedly derived from the Latin sciō , the present participle scīre , meaning "to know". There are many hypotheses for science ' s ultimate word origin. According to Michiel de Vaan , Dutch linguist and Indo-Europeanist , sciō may have its origin in
11628-444: The 16th century by describing and classifying plants, animals, minerals, and other biotic beings. Today, "natural history" suggests observational descriptions aimed at popular audiences. Social science is the study of human behaviour and the functioning of societies. It has many disciplines that include, but are not limited to anthropology , economics, history, human geography , political science , psychology, and sociology. In
11799-504: The 18th century, the university developed a particular forte in teaching anatomy and the developing science of surgery , and it was considered one of the best medical schools in the English-speaking world. Bodies to be used for dissection were brought to the university's Anatomy Theatre through a secret tunnel from a nearby house (today's College Wynd student accommodation), which was also used by murderers Burke and Hare to deliver
11970-495: The 18th century, the university was at the centre of the Scottish Enlightenment . The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment fell on especially fertile ground in Edinburgh because of the university's democratic and secular origin; its organization as a single entity instead of loosely connected colleges, which encouraged academic exchange; its adoption of the more flexible Dutch model of professorship, rather than having student cohorts taught by
12141-460: The 19th century, Old College was becoming overcrowded. After a bequest from Sir David Baxter , the university started planning new buildings in earnest. Sir Robert Rowand Anderson won the public architectural competition and was commissioned to design new premises for the Medical School in 1877. Initially, the design incorporated a campanile and a hall for examination and graduation, but this
12312-675: The 2020s was the conversion of some of the historic Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh buildings in Lauriston Place, which had been vacated in 2003 and partially developed into the Quartermile . The £120 million project created a home for the Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI), an interdisciplinary hub linking arts, humanities, and social sciences with other disciplines in the research and teaching of complex, multi-stakeholder societal challenges. The EFI officially opened its doors to
12483-633: The 3rd millennium BCE, the ancient Egyptians developed a decimal numbering system , solved practical problems using geometry , and developed a calendar . Their healing therapies involved drug treatments and the supernatural, such as prayers, incantations , and rituals. The ancient Mesopotamians used knowledge about the properties of various natural chemicals for manufacturing pottery , faience , glass, soap, metals, lime plaster , and waterproofing. They studied animal physiology , anatomy , behaviour , and astrology for divinatory purposes. The Mesopotamians had an intense interest in medicine and
12654-527: The 79th regiment to be called from Edinburgh Castle to quell the disturbance. This was later immortalised in a 92-page humorous account written by the students entitled The University Snowdrop and then later, in 1853, in a landscape by English artist, Samuel Bough . After 275 years of governance by the town council, the Universities (Scotland) Act 1858 gave the university full authority over its own affairs. The act established governing bodies including
12825-675: The Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic, which was officially opened in October 2013. The Centre for Regenerative Medicine (CRM) is a stem cell research centre dedicated to the development of regenerative treatments, which was opened in 2012. CRM is also home to applied scientists working with the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) and Roslin Cells. In December 2002,
12996-729: The College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and the School of Informatics . The highest concentration of university buildings is around George Square , which includes 40 George Square (formerly David Hume Tower), Appleton Tower , Main Library , and Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre , the area's largest lecture hall. Around nearby Bristo Square lie the Dugald Stewart Building , Informatics Forum , McEwan Hall , Potterrow Student Centre , Teviot Row House , and old Medical School , which still houses pre-clinical medical courses and biomedical sciences. The Pleasance , one of Edinburgh University Students' Association 's main buildings,
13167-552: The Department for Social Science and Social Work. The Scottish Association for the Deaf used the basement as a resource and specialist equipment area. The Moray House Theatre was licensed for "public performances of plays and entertainment" and could seat an audience of up to 256. Following the merger with the university the interior of the building was refurbished in 1998–99. The architects were Lewis and Hickey DJP. Facilities were created for
13338-472: The Department of Education & Society, including the Centre for Educational Sociology. These works involved the loss of the Moray House Theatre. The last student performance in the theatre, before it was cleared away, was Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'. This has the valedictory line "And now our Revels all are ended." The current St Leonard's Land was opened in October 2001, and is the newest building on
13509-404: The Enlightenment was dominated by scientific societies and academies , which had largely replaced universities as centres of scientific research and development. Societies and academies were the backbones of the maturation of the scientific profession. Another important development was the popularisation of science among an increasingly literate population. Enlightenment philosophers turned to
13680-634: The Greek natural philosophy of classical antiquity , whereby formal attempts were made to provide explanations of events in the physical world based on natural causes, while further advancements, including the introduction of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system , were made during the Golden Age of India . Scientific research deteriorated in these regions after the fall of the Western Roman Empire during
13851-410: The Greek philosopher Leucippus and his student Democritus . Later, Epicurus would develop a full natural cosmology based on atomism, and would adopt a "canon" (ruler, standard) which established physical criteria or standards of scientific truth. The Greek doctor Hippocrates established the tradition of systematic medical science and is known as " The Father of Medicine ". A turning point in
14022-703: The Holyrood campus. It houses the Physical Education and Sports science departments, and has a swimming pool , laboratory and gymnasia . The PE department had originally been sited on a different campus at Cramond because it did not become part of Moray House until 1987, when Moray House merged with the Dunfermline College of Physical Education . However the relocation of the Physical Education department from its Cramond campus in July 2001 necessitated
14193-453: The Milesian school, which was founded by Thales of Miletus and later continued by his successors Anaximander and Anaximenes , were the first to attempt to explain natural phenomena without relying on the supernatural . The Pythagoreans developed a complex number philosophy and contributed significantly to the development of mathematical science. The theory of atoms was developed by
14364-513: The Music and Educational Handwork departments in 1949. A stage was constructed on the first floor using the timber from discarded desks. The City issued the Governors of Moray House in 1979 with a notice to demolish the Old Kirk's adjacent Hall, which had become dangerous. Until the merger with the University of Edinburgh in 1998 the building had latterly housed Moray House's Building Services. It closed and
14535-571: The National Committee for the Training of Teachers, owned St John's Land and the tenements along the east side of St John Street. Through the redevelopment of these sites the college was able made its own contribution to the Canongate renewal programme. The St John's Land project involved the redevelopment of the buildings at 176 - 184 Canongate and No. 1 St John's Street. The architect for the project
14706-664: The National Robotarium. The deal also included creation of the Edinburgh International Data Facility, which performs high-speed data processing in a secure environment. In September 2020, the university completed work on the Richard Verney Health Centre at its central area campus on Bristo Square. The facility houses a health centre and pharmacy, and the university's disability and counselling services. The university's largest expansion in
14877-557: The New Training College (1911–14) off Holyrood Road by architect Alan K Robertson and designed to be a teacher-training centre for 800 students. In 1994/5 the building was renamed Paterson's Land in memory of Dr Maurice Paterson who was Rector of Moray House from 1864 -1907. Simon Laurie House one of the original buildings, bordering the Canongate The present St John's Land was erected sometime between 1766 and 1768 by John ,
15048-581: The Noreen and Kenneth Murray Library opened for the academic year 2012/13. The campus also hosts the National e-Science Centre (NeSC), Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), Scottish Institute for Enterprise (SIE), Scottish Microelectronics Centre (SMC), and Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC). The BioQuarter campus, based in the Little France area, is home to the majority of medical facilities of
15219-551: The Origin of Species , published in 1859. Separately, Gregor Mendel presented his paper, " Experiments on Plant Hybridization " in 1865, which outlined the principles of biological inheritance, serving as the basis for modern genetics. Early in the 19th century John Dalton suggested the modern atomic theory , based on Democritus's original idea of indivisible particles called atoms . The laws of conservation of energy , conservation of momentum and conservation of mass suggested
15390-629: The Polish School of Medicine is located in the Quadrangle of the old Medical School in Teviot Place. On 10 May 1951, the Royal (Dick) Veterinary College , founded in 1823 by William Dick , was reconstituted as the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and officially became part of the university. It achieved full faculty status as Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in 1964. In 1955 the university opened
15561-559: The Prime Minister of the post-war Labour government of 1945 to 1951, was also present. The then College Director of Studies, Dr W B Inglis, gave the votes of thanks. The restored building contained studios for the teaching of Speech and Drama, staff studies and seminar rooms and a large proscenium theatre. For many years thereafter St John's Land housed in addition to Drama, the Scottish Centre for Education Overseas (SCEO) and, later,
15732-458: The Science and Medicine buildings had suffered from a lack of repairs or upgrades, which was exacerbated by an influx of students after the end of the war. In 1919, the university bought the land of West Mains Farm in the south of the city for the development of a new satellite campus specialising in the sciences. On 6 July 1920, King George V laid the foundation of the first new building (now called
15903-559: The UK and Scottish governments, six local authorities and all universities and colleges in the region. The university committed to delivering a range of economic benefits to the region through the Data-Driven Innovation initiative. In conjunction with Heriot-Watt University , the deal created five innovation hubs: the Bayes Centre, Edinburgh Futures Institute, Usher Institute, Easter Bush, and one further hub based at Heriot-Watt,
16074-511: The Universities (Scotland) Act 1858. The office of chancellor serves as the titular head and highest office of the university. Their duties include conferring degrees and enhancing the profile and reputation of the university on national and global levels. The chancellor is elected by the university's General Council , and a person generally remains in the office for life. Previous chancellors include former prime minister Arthur Balfour and novelist Sir J. M. Barrie . Princess Anne has held
16245-472: The advent of writing systems in early civilisations like Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia , creating the earliest written records in the history of science in around 3000 to 1200 BCE . Although the words and concepts of "science" and "nature" were not part of the conceptual landscape at the time, the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians made contributions that would later find a place in Greek and medieval science: mathematics, astronomy, and medicine. From
16416-533: The area's historic houses and erecting modern buildings such as 40 George Square , Appleton Tower and the Main Library . On 1 August 1998, the Moray House Institute of Education , founded in 1848, merged with the University of Edinburgh, becoming its Faculty of Education. Following the internal restructuring of the university in 2002, Moray House became known as the Moray House School of Education . It
16587-455: The balconie nixt the streit." Both rooms have ceilings of early 17th-century design. The Cromwell Room has an 18th-century decorative scheme involving neoclassical Roman scenes by Roderick Chalmers and James Norie. The decoration is believed to refer to the Jacobite cause. According to Lady Home's 1631 inventory there was a gallery room hung with 30 paintings. A suite of vaulted rooms had access to
16758-464: The centuries, it remains one of the few original aristocratic houses built in the Canongate in the 16th and 17th centuries. Lady Home employed the master mason William Wallace (d. 1631) . The west wing survives with two important interiors, the "Cromwell Room" which had originally had a balcony overlooking the garden, and the "Balcony Room", identified in Lady Home's inventory as "the new rowme that hes
16929-504: The city being nicknamed the " Athens of the North ". The three main global university rankings ( ARWU , THE , and QS ) place the University of Edinburgh within their respective top 40. It is a member of several associations of research-intensive universities, including the Coimbra Group , League of European Research Universities , Russell Group , Una Europa , and Universitas 21 . In
17100-498: The city. Most of the Science and Engineering College's research and teaching activities take place at the campus, which occupies a 35-hectare site. It includes the Alexander Graham Bell Building (for mobile phones and digital communications systems), James Clerk Maxwell Building (the administrative and teaching centre of the School of Physics and Astronomy and School of Mathematics), Joseph Black Building (home to
17271-398: The combination of two or more disciplines into one, such as bioinformatics , a combination of biology and computer science or cognitive sciences . The concept has existed since the ancient Greek period and it became popular again in the 20th century. Scientific research can be labelled as either basic or applied research. Basic research is the search for knowledge and applied research
17442-464: The corpses of their victims during the 1820s. The Edinburgh snowball riots of 1838 also known as the ' Wars of the Quadrangle ' occurred when University of Edinburgh students engaged in what started as a snowball fight in "a spirit of harmless amusement" before becoming a two-day 'battle' at Old College with local Edinburgh residents on South Bridge which led to the Lord Provost calling from
17613-610: The course of tens of thousands of years, taking different forms around the world, and few details are known about the very earliest developments. Women likely played a central role in prehistoric science, as did religious rituals . Some scholars use the term " protoscience " to label activities in the past that resemble modern science in some but not all features; however, this label has also been criticised as denigrating, or too suggestive of presentism , thinking about those activities only in relation to modern categories. Direct evidence for scientific processes becomes clearer with
17784-505: The discovery of radioactivity by Henri Becquerel and Marie Curie in 1896, Marie Curie then became the first person to win two Nobel Prizes . In the next year came the discovery of the first subatomic particle, the electron . In the first half of the century the development of antibiotics and artificial fertilisers improved human living standards globally. Harmful environmental issues such as ozone depletion , ocean acidification , eutrophication , and climate change came to
17955-517: The dying Byzantine Empire to Western Europe at the start of the Renaissance . The recovery and assimilation of Greek works and Islamic inquiries into Western Europe from the 10th to 13th century revived " natural philosophy ", which was later transformed by the Scientific Revolution that began in the 16th century as new ideas and discoveries departed from previous Greek conceptions and traditions. The scientific method soon played
18126-584: The earliest medical prescriptions appeared in Sumerian during the Third Dynasty of Ur . They seem to have studied scientific subjects which had practical or religious applications and had little interest in satisfying curiosity. In classical antiquity , there is no real ancient analogue of a modern scientist. Instead, well-educated, usually upper-class, and almost universally male individuals performed various investigations into nature whenever they could afford
18297-418: The east, is the university's largest residence hall for undergraduate students in their first year. The complex houses over 2,000 students during term time and consists of ten named buildings with communal green spaces between them. The two original buildings, St Leonard's Hall and Salisbury Green , were built in the 19th century, while the majority of Pollock Halls dates from the 1960s and early 2000s. Two of
18468-411: The expansion and refurbishment of the existing buildings. The opportunity was taken not only to enlarge St Leonard's Land with a wrap-around academic addition to the north and east sides but to add a six-lane 25-metre research and teaching swimming pool. The architects for this project were FaulknerBrowns. The original St Leonard's Land, now the core of the present building, was opened in 1971, and housed
18639-496: The first department of nursing in Europe for academic study. This department was inspired by the work of Gladys Beaumont Carter and a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation . By the end of the 1950s, there were around 7,000 students matriculating annually, more than doubling the numbers from the turn of the century. The university addressed this partially through the redevelopment of George Square , demolishing much of
18810-399: The former principal of the university Sir Timothy O'Shea and was opened by Princess Anne in 2017, providing a living and social environment for postgraduate students. The Outreach Centre, Institute for Academic Development (University Services Group), and Edinburgh Centre for Professional Legal Studies are also located at Holyrood. The King's Buildings campus is located in the south of
18981-462: The free energy of the universe is seen as constantly declining: the entropy of a closed universe increases over time. The electromagnetic theory was established in the 19th century by the works of Hans Christian Ørsted , André-Marie Ampère , Michael Faraday , James Clerk Maxwell , Oliver Heaviside , and Heinrich Hertz . The new theory raised questions that could not easily be answered using Newton's framework. The discovery of X-rays inspired
19152-425: The frequent use of precision instruments; the emergence of terms such as "biologist", "physicist", and "scientist"; an increased professionalisation of those studying nature; scientists gaining cultural authority over many dimensions of society; the industrialisation of numerous countries; the thriving of popular science writings; and the emergence of science journals. During the late 19th century, psychology emerged as
19323-411: The garden, which was landscaped with terraces, mount, walks, and a wilderness . There were two summerhouses. In February 1633, the Earl of Morton obtained her permission for the house to be used by Charles I during his visit to Scotland, but the plan was cancelled by the death of her son, the Earl of Home . In May 1650, the house was used for the wedding party of Mary Stuart and Lord Lorne , and it
19494-519: The genes of the human genome . The first induced pluripotent human stem cells were made in 2006, allowing adult cells to be transformed into stem cells and turn into any cell type found in the body. With the affirmation of the Higgs boson discovery in 2013, the last particle predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics was found. In 2015, gravitational waves , predicted by general relativity
19665-431: The heliocentric model. The printing press was widely used to publish scholarly arguments, including some that disagreed widely with contemporary ideas of nature. Francis Bacon and René Descartes published philosophical arguments in favour of a new type of non-Aristotelian science. Bacon emphasised the importance of experiment over contemplation, questioned the Aristotelian concepts of formal and final cause, promoted
19836-562: The history of early philosophical science was Socrates ' example of applying philosophy to the study of human matters, including human nature, the nature of political communities, and human knowledge itself. The Socratic method as documented by Plato 's dialogues is a dialectic method of hypothesis elimination: better hypotheses are found by steadily identifying and eliminating those that lead to contradictions. The Socratic method searches for general commonly-held truths that shape beliefs and scrutinises them for consistency. Socrates criticised
20007-509: The idea that science should study the laws of nature and the improvement of all human life. Descartes emphasised individual thought and argued that mathematics rather than geometry should be used to study nature. At the start of the Age of Enlightenment , Isaac Newton formed the foundation of classical mechanics by his Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica , greatly influencing future physicists. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz incorporated terms from Aristotelian physics , now used in
20178-509: The late 20th century active recruitment of women and elimination of sex discrimination greatly increased the number of women scientists, but large gender disparities remained in some fields. The discovery of the cosmic microwave background in 1964 led to a rejection of the steady-state model of the universe in favour of the Big Bang theory of Georges Lemaître . The century saw fundamental changes within science disciplines. Evolution became
20349-710: The mid-19th century, joining the University of Edinburgh in 1998. The institution currently known as Moray House was originally opened as a normal school following the Disruption of 1843 . Known as The Free Church of Scotland's Normal and Sessional School , it was originally located in Whitefield Chapel, and then in rooms below the Music Room in Rose Street . In 1848, the school moved to its current location in Moray House, in
20520-580: The ministry in the United Free Church studied at New College, whilst candidates for the Church of Scotland studied in the university's Faculty of Divinity. In 1935 the two institutions merged, with all operations moved to the New College site in Old Town. This freed up Old College for Edinburgh Law School . The Polish School of Medicine was established in 1941 as a wartime academic initiative. While it
20691-608: The most important medical center of the ancient world. The House of Wisdom was established in Abbasid -era Baghdad , Iraq , where the Islamic study of Aristotelianism flourished until the Mongol invasions in the 13th century. Ibn al-Haytham , better known as Alhazen, used controlled experiments in his optical study. Avicenna 's compilation of the Canon of Medicine , a medical encyclopaedia,
20862-662: The notion that the only function of the eye is perception, and shifted the main focus in optics from the eye to the propagation of light. Kepler is best known, however, for improving Copernicus' heliocentric model through the discovery of Kepler's laws of planetary motion . Kepler did not reject Aristotelian metaphysics and described his work as a search for the Harmony of the Spheres . Galileo had made significant contributions to astronomy, physics and engineering. However, he became persecuted after Pope Urban VIII sentenced him for writing about
21033-606: The older houses in Pollock Halls were demolished in 2002, and a new building, Chancellor's Court, was built in their place and opened in 2003. Self-catered flats elsewhere account for the majority of university-provided accommodation. The area also includes the John McIntyre Conference Centre opened in 2009, which is the university's premier conference space. The Holyrood campus, just off the Royal Mile , used to be
21204-447: The older type of study of physics as too purely speculative and lacking in self-criticism . Aristotle in the 4th century BCE created a systematic program of teleological philosophy. In the 3rd century BCE, Greek astronomer Aristarchus of Samos was the first to propose a heliocentric model of the universe, with the Sun at the centre and all the planets orbiting it. Aristarchus's model
21375-421: The original Moray House Physical Education department, which was a much smaller scale operation than before the merger with Dunfermline college. University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( Scots : University o Edinburgh , Scottish Gaelic : Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann ; abbreviated as Edin. in post-nominals ) is a public research university based in Edinburgh , Scotland . Founded by
21546-492: The original concrete container of the swimming pool, which was redesigned to house the periodicals collection. The current ground floor is at the level of the original edge of the swimming pool, and now houses the main stock area and Service Desk. A new mezzanine area was inserted on the south side and housed the Children's Book collection. The top floor was opened out to house library and computer work stations. This new Library
21717-597: The other ancient universities of Scotland , and in contrast to nearly all other pre-1992 universities which are established by royal charters , the University of Edinburgh is constituted by the Universities (Scotland) Acts 1858 to 1966 . These acts provide for three major bodies in the governance of the university: the University Court , the General Council , and the Senatus Academicus . The University Court
21888-598: The past, science was a synonym for "knowledge" or "study", in keeping with its Latin origin. A person who conducted scientific research was called a "natural philosopher" or "man of science". In 1834, William Whewell introduced the term scientist in a review of Mary Somerville 's book On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences , crediting it to "some ingenious gentleman" (possibly himself). Science has no single origin. Rather, systematic methods emerged gradually over
22059-469: The position since March 2011 succeeding Prince Philip . She is also Patron of the university's Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into two or three major branches: the natural sciences (e.g., physics , chemistry , and biology ), which study
22230-538: The position since March 2011. Notable alumni of the University of Edinburgh include inventor Alexander Graham Bell , naturalist Charles Darwin , philosopher David Hume , physicist James Clerk Maxwell , and writers such as Sir J. M. Barrie , Sir Arthur Conan Doyle , Sir Walter Scott , and Robert Louis Stevenson . The university has produced several heads of state and government, including three British prime ministers . Additionally, three UK Supreme Court justices were educated at Edinburgh. As of October 2024,
22401-518: The public on 4 June 2024. Edinburgh has several historical links to other universities, chiefly through its influential Medical School and its graduates, who established and developed institutions elsewhere in the world. The university has five main sites in Edinburgh: The university is responsible for several significant historic and modern buildings across the city, including St Cecilia's Hall , Scotland's oldest purpose-built concert hall and
22572-562: The public's attention and caused the onset of environmental studies . During this period scientific experimentation became increasingly larger in scale and funding . The extensive technological innovation stimulated by World War I , World War II , and the Cold War led to competitions between global powers , such as the Space Race and nuclear arms race . Substantial international collaborations were also made, despite armed conflicts. In
22743-467: The rights of women to higher education on the national political agenda, which eventually resulted in legislation allowing women to study at all Scottish universities in 1889. The university admitted women to graduate in medicine in 1893. In 2015, the Edinburgh Seven were commemorated with a plaque at the university, and in 2019 they were posthumously awarded with medical degrees. Towards the end of
22914-790: The school moved into a new £60 million building on the Easter Bush campus, which now houses research and teaching facilities, and a hospital for small and farm animals. Edinburgh College of Art , founded in 1760, formally merged with the university's School of Arts, Culture and Environment on 1 August 2011. In 2014, the Zhejiang University-University of Edinburgh Institute (ZJE) was founded as an international joint institute offering degrees in biomedical sciences, taught in English. The campus, located in Haining , Zhejiang Province, China,
23085-432: The second Earl of Hopetoun . It was part of his scheme which included the development of tenements along the eastern side of what is now St John Street. This was a prestigious development unusual in Edinburgh at that time consisting as it did of three or four storey tenements each with its own front door. Access to St John's Street from the Canongate was through a wide pend (1768). By the early 1950s Moray House, through
23256-469: The second oldest in use in the British Isles ; Teviot Row House, the oldest purpose-built students' union building in the world; and the restored 17th-century Mylne's Court student residence at the head of the Royal Mile . The Central Area is spread around numerous squares and streets in Edinburgh's Southside , with some buildings in Old Town. It is the university's oldest area, occupied primarily by
23427-453: The seminal encyclopaedia Natural History . Positional notation for representing numbers likely emerged between the 3rd and 5th centuries CE along Indian trade routes. This numeral system made efficient arithmetic operations more accessible and would eventually become standard for mathematics worldwide. Due to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire , the 5th century saw an intellectual decline and knowledge of Greek conceptions of
23598-490: The sheep , the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell. A year later Polly and Molly were cloned, both sheep contained a human gene. The Western General campus, in proximity to the Western General Hospital , contains the Biomedical Research Facility, Edinburgh Clinical Research Facility, and Institute of Genetics and Cancer (formerly the Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine). In common with
23769-547: The shortage of teachers in Scotland in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Moray House looked to the possibility of building additional teaching facilities close to the existing estate at Holyrood. In 1961 Moray House purchased the property of the Aitchison Brewery. This included buildings at the ends of Playhouse and Old Playhouse Closes as well offices (no. 18 and 19 St John's Street), a tenement (no. 20) and Maltings. The price paid
23940-513: The site for Moray House Institute for Education until it merged with the university on 1 August 1998. The university has since extended this campus. The buildings include redeveloped and extended Sports Science, Physical Education and Leisure Management facilities at St Leonard's Land linked to the Sports Institute in the Pleasance . The £80 million O'Shea Hall at Holyrood was named after
24111-567: The sixteenth century Nicolaus Copernicus formulated a heliocentric model of the Solar System, stating that the planets revolve around the Sun, instead of the geocentric model where the planets and the Sun revolve around the Earth. This was based on a theorem that the orbital periods of the planets are longer as their orbs are farther from the centre of motion, which he found not to agree with Ptolemy's model. Johannes Kepler and others challenged
24282-405: The social sciences, there are many competing theoretical perspectives, many of which are extended through competing research programs such as the functionalists , conflict theorists , and interactionists in sociology. Due to the limitations of conducting controlled experiments involving large groups of individuals or complex situations, social scientists may adopt other research methods such as
24453-456: The sum, the town council petitioned King James VI and his Privy Council . The King brokered a monetary compromise and granted a royal charter on 14 April 1582, empowering the town council to create a college of higher education. A college established by secular authorities was unprecedented in newly Presbyterian Scotland, as all previous Scottish universities had been founded through papal bulls . Named Tounis College (Town's College),
24624-587: The teaching of rhetoric and poetry , alongside more traditional subjects such as philosophy . However, the bequest was delayed by more than 25 years due to the religious revolution that led to the Reformation Parliament of 1560. The plans were revived in the late 1570s through efforts by the Edinburgh Town Council , first minister of Edinburgh James Lawson , and Lord Provost William Little . When Reid's descendants were unwilling to pay out
24795-448: The time the Royal Society of Edinburgh was founded in 1783, the university was regarded as one of the world's preeminent scientific institutions, and Voltaire called Edinburgh a "hotbed of genius" as a result. Benjamin Franklin believed that the university possessed "a set of as truly great men, Professors of the Several Branches of Knowledge, as have ever appeared in any Age or Country". Thomas Jefferson felt that as far as science
24966-476: The time. Before the invention or discovery of the concept of phusis or nature by the pre-Socratic philosophers , the same words tend to be used to describe the natural "way" in which a plant grows, and the "way" in which, for example, one tribe worships a particular god. For this reason, it is claimed that these men were the first philosophers in the strict sense and the first to clearly distinguish "nature" and "convention". The early Greek philosophers of
25137-474: The university at the passing of the Act was vested in the Court. The present powers of the Court are further defined in the Universities (Scotland) Act 1966, including the administration and management of the university's revenue and property, the regulation of staff salaries, and the establishment and composition of committees of its own members or others. The General Council consists of graduates , academic staff , current and former University Court members. It
25308-453: The university has been affiliated with 20 Nobel Prize laureates, four Pulitzer Prize winners, three Turing Award winners, an Abel Prize laureate, and a Fields Medalist . Edinburgh alumni have also won a total of ten Olympic gold medals . In 1557, Bishop Robert Reid of St Magnus Cathedral on Orkney made a will containing an endowment of 8,000 merks to build a college in Edinburgh. Unusually for his time, Reid's vision included
25479-427: The university opened its doors to students on 14 October 1583, with an attendance of 80–90. At the time, the college mainly covered liberal arts and divinity . Instruction began under the charge of a graduate from the University of St Andrews , theologian Robert Rollock , who first served as Regent, and from 1586 as principal of the college. Initially Rollock was the sole instructor for first-year students, and he
25650-400: The university, alongside the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. The campus houses the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic, Centre for Regenerative Medicine , Chancellor's Building, Euan MacDonald Centre , and Queen's Medical Research Institute, which opened in 2005. The Chancellor's Building has two large lecture theatres and a medical library connected to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh by
25821-413: The university, and to receive an audited financial statement . The Council elects the chancellor of the university and three Assessors on the University Court. The Senatus Academicus is the university's supreme academic body, chaired by the principal and consisting of the professors, heads of departments, and a number of readers , lecturers and other teaching and research staff. The core function of
25992-418: The world deteriorated in Western Europe. During the period, Latin encyclopaedists such as Isidore of Seville preserved the majority of general ancient knowledge. In contrast, because the Byzantine Empire resisted attacks from invaders, they were able to preserve and improve prior learning. John Philoponus , a Byzantine scholar in the 500s, started to question Aristotle's teaching of physics, introducing
26163-414: Was William Gordon Dey . Typical of restoration work at this time no attempt was made to preserve the Georgian interiors. Instead the entire building was gutted and only the existing facades and the south west turret stair were retained. The cost of the works was estimated at £41,000. On 24 May 1956 the building was formally opened by Walter Elliot , the Lord High Commissioner for Scotland. Earl Attlee ,
26334-401: Was again designed by the Edinburgh architects, Gordon & Dey , and was originally constructed in the early 1960s on the site of numbers 2 to 5 St John Street, and originally included a large lecture theatre, Art rooms and a swimming pool. This new building was opened on 2 May 1963 by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland , the Very Reverend Dr Neville Davidson, and
26505-492: Was concerned, "no place in the world can pretend to a competition with Edinburgh". In 1785, Henry Dundas introduced the South Bridge Act in the House of Commons ; one of the bill's goals was to use South Bridge as a location for the university, which had existed in a hotchpotch of buildings since its establishment. The site was used to construct Old College , the university's first custom-built building, by architect William Henry Playfair to plans by Robert Adam . During
26676-406: Was demolished in 2013 in preparation for construction of new student accommodation. Charteris Land is home to Moray House's departments of Educational Studies and part of the department of Curriculum Research & Development. In 1964, draft plans for a ten-storey teaching block were drawn up by the architects, Gordon & Dey , to be built adjacent to the west side of St John Street. However,
26847-416: Was designed as a specialist centre for the training of teachers in the Visual Arts , including painting , ceramics , textiles , sculpture , photography and jewellery . Inside the building were sixteen large studios and a large Exhibition Hall, which was available for both student and external use. In the original plan for the site, the raised patio in front of Chessel's Land was planned to connect with
27018-444: Was established on 15 March 2016. The university began hosting a Wikimedian in Residence in 2016. The residency was made into a full-time position in 2019, with the Wikimedian involved in teaching and learning activities within the scope of the University of Edinburgh WikiProject . In 2018, the University of Edinburgh was a signatory to the £1.3 billion Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal , in partnership with
27189-406: Was established to ensure that graduates have a continuing voice in the management of the university. The Council is required to meet twice per year to consider matters affecting the wellbeing and prosperity of the university. The Universities (Scotland) Act 1966 gave the Council the power to consider draft ordinances and resolutions, to be presented with an annual report of the work and activities of
27360-420: Was expected to tutor the 1583 intake for all four years of their degree in every subject. The first cohort finished their studies in 1587, and 47 students graduated (or 'laureated') with an M.A. degree. When King James VI visited Scotland in 1617, he held a disputation with the college's professors, after which he decreed that it should henceforth be called the "Colledge [sic] of King James". The university
27531-494: Was founded in 1884 by student Robert Fitzroy Bell . In 1889, the SRC voted to establish Edinburgh University Union (EUU), to be housed in Teviot Row House on Bristo Square. Edinburgh University Sports Union (EUSU) was founded in 1866, and Edinburgh University Women's Union (renamed the Chambers Street Union in 1964) in October 1905. The SRC, EUU and Chambers Street Union merged to form Edinburgh University Students' Association (EUSA) on 1 July 1973. During World War I ,
27702-478: Was known as both Tounis College and King James' College until it gradually assumed the name of the University of Edinburgh during the 17th century. After the deposition of King James II and VII during the Glorious Revolution in 1688, the Parliament of Scotland passed legislation designed to root out Jacobite sympathisers amongst university staff. In Edinburgh, this led to the dismissal of Principal Alexander Monro and several professors and regents after
27873-399: Was named Dalhousie Land. In the early 1990s, Dalhousie Land was refurbished to become the new library for the Holyrood campus. Previously, periodicals, learning resources and books had occupied various rooms over three floors in Paterson's Land. A grant was obtained in 1994 to enable the relocation of all library facilities to Dalhousie Land. The refurbishment plans involved the retention of
28044-529: Was obliged to retain many of its original features. Moray House Nursery School was a purpose-built Nursery School designed on Montessori principles by Frank Wood in 1932. This child-centred approach required furniture, toilets, and even coat pegs to be designed specifically for small children. Paterson's Land contains teaching and tutorial rooms, as well as lecture theatres. For many years it hosted Chapters restaurant but this has now closed and been replaced by Levels cafe on Holyrood Road. Originally built as
28215-512: Was officially formed in 1959. In the early 1980s, Callendar Park College of Education, in Falkirk, was merged with Moray House. In 1987, Moray House merged with the Dunfermline College of Physical Education based at Cramond , and continued to exist on two separate campuses (Holyrood and Cramond) until 2001. In 1991, the institute was linked with Heriot-Watt University , Edinburgh; and was retitled Moray House Institute of Education . On 1 August 1998, Moray House Institute of Education merged with
28386-485: Was opened in August 1996. In 1999/2000, a further refurbishment was undertaken to allow for the transfer of the stock from the Cramond campus library before its closure. This involved the creation of a new floor 3 out of the former lecture theatres on floor 2. This building (currently closed) was the kirk of the Old (or Great) Kirk, a congregation which had originally worshiped in part of St. Giles' Cathedral from 1560, and in this Old Kirk between 1882 and 1941. John Knox
28557-424: Was originally intended for students and doctors in the Polish Armed Forces in the West , civilians were also allowed to take the courses, which were taught in Polish and awarded Polish medical degrees. When the school was closed in 1949, 336 students had matriculated, of which 227 students graduated with the equivalent of an MBChB and a total of 19 doctors obtained a doctorate or MD. A bronze plaque commemorating
28728-433: Was renamed the Moray House School of Education and Sport in August 2019. In the 1990s it became apparent that the old Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh buildings in Lauriston Place were no longer adequate for a modern teaching hospital. Donald Dewar , the Scottish Secretary at the time, authorized a joint project between private finance, local authorities, and the university to create a modern hospital and medical campus in
28899-411: Was seen as too ambitious. The new Medical School opened in 1884, but the building was not completed until 1888. After funds were donated by politician and brewer William McEwan in 1894, a separate graduation building was constructed after all, also designed by Anderson. The resulting McEwan Hall on Bristo Square was presented to the university in 1897. The Students' Representative Council (SRC)
29070-399: Was widely rejected because it was believed to violate the laws of physics, while Ptolemy's Almagest , which contains a geocentric description of the Solar System , was accepted through the early Renaissance instead. The inventor and mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse made major contributions to the beginnings of calculus . Pliny the Elder was a Roman writer and polymath, who wrote
29241-400: Was £50,000. In the 1970s, three specialist teaching buildings were built from designs by architects Gordon and Dey. They were St Leonard's Land ( Physical Education ), Chessel's Land ( Visual Arts ) and St Mary's Land ( Science and Technical ). The design of these buildings was representative of 1960s modernist architecture and somewhat out of sympathy with the surrounding areas of
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