The Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh was a learned society based in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

"for the cultivation of the physical sciences". The society was founded in 1771 as the Physico-Chirurgical Society but soon after changed its name to the Physical Society. After being granted a Royal Charter in 1778 it became the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh. It absorbed a number of other societies over the next fifty years, including the Edinburgh Medico-Chirurgical Society in 1782 (not to be confused with the extant Medico-Chirurgical Society of Edinburgh, founded in 1821), the American Physical Society in 1796 (not to be confused with the extant

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

, founded in 1899), the Hibernian Medical Society in 1799, the Chemical Society in 1803, the Natural History Society in 1812 and the Didactic Society in 1813. The society occupied a lecture hall in Nicholson Street, Edinburgh, complete with library. From 1854 to 1965, it published the journal ''Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh'', devoted to articles on experimental biology and natural history. Members of the society were known as Fellows and permitted to use the post-nominal letters FRPSE. Presidents were elected at intervals, sometimes more than one for each year. Some of the records of the Society, for the period 1828–1884, are maintained by the

Royal Scottish Geographical Society The Royal Scottish Geographical Society (RSGS) is an educational charity based in Perth, Scotland, founded in 1884. The purpose of the society is to advance the subject of geography worldwide, inspire people to learn more about the world around ...

Presidents of the SocietyIn 1880
''Proceedings'', p.16
John Duns identified the following former presidents: " Captain Thomas Brown, Edward Forbes,
Robert Kaye Greville Dr. Robert Kaye Greville FRSE FLS LLD (13 December 1794 – 4 June 1866) was an England, English mycologist, bryology, bryologist, and botanist. He was an accomplished artist and illustrator of natural history. In addition to art and scien ...
,
James Y. Simpson Sir James Young Simpson, 1st Baronet (7 June 1811 – 6 May 1870) was a Scottish obstetrician and a significant figure in the history of medicine. He was the first physician to demonstrate the anesthetic, anaesthetic properties of chloroform i ...
, John Coldstream, George Wilson, John Goodsir,
Hugh Miller Hugh Miller (10 October 1802 – 23/24 December 1856) was a Scottish geologist, writer and folklorist. Life and work Miller was born in Cromarty, the first of three children of Harriet Wright (''bap''. 1780, ''d''. 1863) and Hugh Miller ...
, Sir John Grahame (sic) Dalyell, John Fleming, Thomas Strethill Wright, and others".

*1776–77 John Grieve *1813 John Roche *18nn Henry von Heydeloff *1828 Richard Tuite *c.1837 William B. Carpenter *1840 Edward Forbes *1846–48 Robert Halliday Gunning *1851–54

Hugh Miller Hugh Miller (10 October 1802 – 23/24 December 1856) was a Scottish geologist, writer and folklorist. Life and work Miller was born in Cromarty, the first of three children of Harriet Wright (''bap''. 1780, ''d''. 1863) and Hugh Miller ...

*1856 Robert Chambers *1858–59 Andrew Murray *1858–59 Professor Balfour *1861–64 James McBain *1861 William Rhind *1862 Thomas Strethill Wright *1863 Alexander Bryson *1863–66 Sir William Turner *1864 David Page *1865–68 Stevenson Macadam *1866–68 John Duns *1870–73

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 ...

*1874–77 David Grieve *1876 John Alexander Smith *1876–79 Ramsay Heatley Traquair *1880 John Duns *1881–84 Ramsay Heatley Traquair *1885–88 Sir William Turner *1888–91 Ramsay Heatley Traquair *1895 John Struthers *1906–09 John Graham Kerr *1909?–1912 J Arthur Thomson *1912–15 Orlando Charnock Bradley *1916 Professor Arthur Robinson *1918–21 James Hartley Ashworth *1921–24 Professor

D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson Sir D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson CB FRS FRSE (2 May 1860 – 21 June 1948) was a Scottish biologist, mathematician and classics scholar. He was a pioneer of mathematical and theoretical biology, travelled on expeditions to the Bering Strait ...

*1933–36 Charles Henry O'Donoghue

References

Defunct learned societies of the United Kingdom Organisations based in Edinburgh Organisations based in Edinburgh with royal patronage History of science and technology in Scotland Defunct organisations based in Scotland 1771 establishments in Scotland Libraries in Edinburgh Biology organizations Organizations disestablished in 1965 1965 disestablishments in Scotland Physics societies Zoological societies {{science-org-stub