author
John Robison
1739–1805
A lively Scottish thinker of the Enlightenment, he moved easily between mathematics, physics, engineering, and public debate. He is remembered both for his scientific teaching in Edinburgh and for a later, much-discussed political work.
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About the author
Born in Scotland in 1739, John Robison studied at the University of Glasgow and built a career that ranged across science and teaching. He worked as a lecturer in chemistry, spent time connected with the Royal Navy, and later returned to academic life after a period in Russia.
Robison became professor of natural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, where he taught and wrote on physics, mechanics, and related subjects. He was also closely involved with the Royal Society of Edinburgh, serving as its first general secretary.
As an author, he wrote on scientific topics as well as politics and society. Today he is often noted both for his contributions to Enlightenment science and for Proofs of a Conspiracy, a book that gave him a lasting place in the history of controversial ideas.