John Robison
From Kook Science
| John Robison | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Stipple engraving of John Robison (CC-BY-4.0) | |
| Born | 4 February 1739 Boghall, Stirlingshire, Scotland |
| Died | 30 January 1805 (65) Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Alma mater | University of Glasgow (M.A., 1756); Academy of New Jersey (Hon. LL.D., 1798); University of Glasgow (Hon. LL.D., 1799) |
| Field(s) | Natural Philosophy |
| Known for | Mechanical philosophy |
John Robison (February 4, 1739 - January 30, 1805) was a Scottish mechanical philosopher who was variously employed on the Board of Longitude (1762), as a professor of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow (1766-1770), a mathematics instructor to the Naval Cadet Corps at Kronstadt, Russia (1770-1773), professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh (1773-), and General Secretary of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1783-1798).
In his later years, Robison became a strident anti-Mason and conspiracy theorist, publishing a treatise entitled Proofs of a Conspiracy Against All the Religions and Governments of Europe, Carried on in Secret Meetings of Free Masons, Illuminati, and Reading Societies (Edinburgh, 1797).
Selected Bibliography
on Mechanical Philosophy
- Robison, John (1781), Outlines of Mechanical Philosophy: Containing the Heads of a Course of Lectures, Edinburgh: William Creech
- Robison, John (1784), Outlines of a Course of Experimental Philosophy, Edinburgh: William Creech
- Robison, John (1803), Outlines of a Course of Lectures on Mechanical Philosophy, Edinburgh: J. Brown
- Robison, John (1804), Elements of Mechanical Philosophy: Being the Substance of a Course of Lectures on that Science, Archibald Constable
- Robison, John (1822), A System of Mechanical Philosophy, 2-4, Edinburgh: J. Murray
on Conspiracy
- Robison, John (1797), Proofs of a Conspiracy Against All the Religions and Governments of Europe, Carried on in Secret Meetings of Free Masons, Illuminati, and Reading Societies, Edinburgh