Robert Jameson

Professor Robert Jameson (1774-1854) was a Scottish naturalist and mineralogist, born in Leith, near Edinburgh, in July 1774. As Regius Professor at the University of Edinburgh for fifty years, Jameson is notable for his advanced scholarship in natural history, his superb museum collection, and his tuition of Charles Darwin. Darwin attended Robert Jameson's natural history course at the University of Edinburgh in his teenage years, learning about stratigraphic geology and assisting with the collections of the Museum of Edinburgh University, then one of the largest in Europe. At Professor Robert Jameson's Wernerian Natural History Association, the young Charles Darwin saw John James Audubon give a demonstration of his method of using wires to prop up birds to draw or paint them in natural positions. Robert Jameson was also the great-uncle of Sir Leander Starr Jameson, Bt, KCMG, CB, British colonial statesman. Download high resolution version (836x1048, 145 KB) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Download high resolution version (836x1048, 145 KB) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Chesma Column in Tsarskoe Selo, commemorating the end of the Russo-Turkish War. ... 1854 (MDCCCLIV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Motto (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity Cha togar mfhearg gun dioladh (Scottish Gaelic) Wha daur meddle wi me?(Scots)1 Anthem (Multiple unofficial anthems) Scotlands location in Europe Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English, Gaelic and Scots1 Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Monarch Queen Elizabeth II... Table of natural history, 1728 Cyclopaedia Natural history is an umbrella term for what are now often viewed as several distinct scientific disciplines of integrative organismal biology. ... Mineralogy is an earth science that involves the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals. ... Formerly a municipal burgh,[1] Leith is a town at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is the port of Edinburgh, Scotland. ... , Edinburgh (() pronounced ; Scottish Gaelic: ) is the capital of Scotland and its second largest city. ... Chesma Column in Tsarskoe Selo, commemorating the end of the Russo-Turkish War. ... Regius Professorships are Royal Professorships at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Dublin, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. ... The University of Edinburgh (Scottish Gaelic: ), founded in 1582,[4] is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Table of natural history, 1728 Cyclopaedia Natural history is an umbrella term for what are now often viewed as several distinct scientific disciplines of integrative organismal biology. ... For other people of the same surname, and places and things named after Charles Darwin, see Darwin. ... For other people of the same surname, and places and things named after Charles Darwin, see Darwin. ... John James Audubon John James Audubon[1] (April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was a Franco-American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter. ... Sir Leander Starr Jameson, 1st Baronet, KCMG (February 9, 1853 – November 26, 1917), also known as Doctor Jim or The Doctor, was a British colonial statesman who was best known for his involvement in the Jameson Raid. ... Badge of a Companion of the Order of the Bath (Military Division) The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (formerly The Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath)[1] is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. ...

Early life

Robert Jameson's early education was spent in Edinburgh, after which he became the apprentice of a surgeon in Leith, with the aim of going to sea. He also attended classes at the Edinburgh University, studying medicine, botany, chemistry, and natural history. By 1793, influenced by the Professor of Natural History, John Walker (1731-1803), he had abandoned medicine and the idea of being a ship's surgeon, and focused instead on science, particularly geology and mineralogy. “Surgeon” redirects here. ... The University of Edinburgh was founded in 1583 as a renowned centre for teaching in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... medicines, see Medication. ... Pinguicula grandiflora Example of a Cross Section of a Stem [1] Botany is the scientific study of plant life. ... Chemistry - the study of atoms, made of nuclei (conglomeration of center particles) and electrons (outer particles), and the structures they form. ... Table of natural history, 1728 Cyclopaedia Natural history is an umbrella term for what are now often viewed as several distinct scientific disciplines of integrative organismal biology. ... John Walker, MD, DD Revd Dr John Walker (1730–1803) was Professor of Natural History at the University of Edinburgh from 1779 to 1803. ...

Jameson was, as a result of this new focus, given the responsibility of looking after the University's Natural History Collection. During this time his geological field-work frequently took him to the Isle of Arran, the Hebrides, the Orkney and Shetland Islands and the Irish mainland. In 1800, he spent a year at the mining academy in Freiberg, Saxony, where he studied under the noted geologist Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749 or 1750-1817). The Isle of Arran (Scots Gaelic: Eilean Arainn) is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde with an area of 430 km² (167 square miles). ... This article is about the Hebrides islands in Scotland. ... Location Geography Area Ranked 16th  - Total 990 km²  - % Water  ? Admin HQ Kirkwall ISO 3166-2 GB-ORK ONS code 00RA Demographics Population Ranked 32nd  - Total (2005) 19,590  - Density 20 / km² Politics Orkney Islands Council http://www. ... The Shetland Islands, also called Shetland (archaically spelled Zetland) formerly called Hjaltland, comprise one of 32 council areas of Scotland. ... Freiberg, Obermarkt square Freiberg is a city in Saxony, Germany, capital of the district Freiberg. ... Abraham Gottlob Werner Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749 or 1750 - 1817), was born in Wehrau, a city in Prussian Silesia, southeastern Germany. ...

As an undergraduate, Jameson had several noteworthy classmates at the University of Edinburgh including Robert Brown, Joseph Black, and Thomas Dick. The University of Edinburgh (Scottish Gaelic: ), founded in 1582,[4] is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Robert Brown (1773–1858) Robert Brown (December 21, 1773–June 10, 1858) is acknowledged as the leading British botanist to collect in Australia during the first half of the 19th century. ... Joseph Black Joseph Black (April 16, 1728 - December 6, 1799) was a Scottish physicist and chemist. ... Thomas Dick (1774 - 1857), a popular Scottish scientific teacher and writer known for his works on astronomy. ...

Regius Professor, Natural History, University of Edinburgh

In 1804 he succeeded Dr Walker as the third Regius Professor of Natural History at Edinburgh University, a post which he held for fifty years. During this period he became the first eminent exponent in Britain of the Wernerian geological system, or Neptunism, and the acknowledged leader of the Scottish Wernerians, founding and presiding over the Wernerian Natural History Society [1] in 1808 until around 1850, when his health began to decline, together with the fortunes of the Society. Jameson's support for Neptunism, a theory that argued that all rocks had been deposited from a primaeval ocean, initially pitted him against James Hutton (1726-1797), a fellow Scot and eminent geologist also based at Edinburgh University, who argued for uniformitarianism, a theory that saw the features of the earth's crust being caused by natural processes over geologic time. Later on in life Jameson renounced Neptunism when he found it untenable and converted to the views of his opponent, Hutton. Regius Professorships are Royal Professorships at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Dublin, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. ... Neptunism is a discredited and obsolete scientific theory of geology proposed by Johan Gottlob Lehmann and Abraham Werner in the later half of the 18th century. ... this dude has a HUGE nose James Hutton, painted by Abner Lowe. ... Uniformitarianism, in the philosophy of science, is the assumption that the natural processes operating in the past are the same as those that can be observed operating in the present. ...

As a teacher, Jameson was remarkable for his power of imparting enthusiasm to his students, and from his class-room there radiated an influence which gave a marked impetus to the study of geology in Britain. Though Charles Darwin apparently found the lectures boring, possibly on account of his youth (Darwin was then only 16: Jameson was 52, and had been a professor for 22 years) the course nevertheless introduced Darwin to the study of geology. The detailed syllabus of Professor Jameson's lectures, as drawn up by him in 1826, shows the range of his teaching. The course in zoology began with a consideration of the natural history of human beings, and concluded with lectures on the philosophy of zoology, in which the first subject was Origin of the Species of Animals. (The Scotsman, 29th Oct., 1935: p.8) For other people of the same surname, and places and things named after Charles Darwin, see Darwin. ...

Over Jameson's fifty year tenure, he built up a huge collection of mineralogical and geological specimens for the Museum of Edinburgh University, including fossils, birds and insects. By 1852 there were over 74,000 zoological and geological specimens at the museum, and in Britain the natural history collection was second only to that of the British Museum. Shortly after his death, the University Museum was transferred to the British Crown and became part of the Royal Scottish Museum, now the Royal Museum, in Edinburgh's Chambers Street. He was also a prolific author of scientific papers and books, including the Mineralogy of the Scottish Isles (1800), his System of Mineralogy (1808), which ran to three editions, and Manual of Mineralogy (1821). In 1819, with Sir David Brewster (1781 - 1868), Jameson started the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal [2] and became its sole editor in 1824. The British Museum in London, England is one of the worlds greatest museums of human history and culture. ... The British monarch or Sovereign is the monarch and head of state of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, and is the source of all executive, judicial and (as the Queen_in_Parliament) legislative power. ... The main hall of the Royal Museum of Scotland The Royal Museum is a museum on Chambers Street, in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... David Brewster Sir David Brewster, (December 11, 1781 – February 10, 1868) was a Scottish scientist. ...

He died in Edinburgh on 19 April 1854. A portrait of Robert Jameson is housed by the National Portrait Gallery in London, and a bust of him is in the Old College of the University of Edinburgh. Robert Jameson was the uncle of Robert William Jameson, Writer to the Signet and playwright of Edinburgh, and therefore also the great-uncle of Sir Leander Starr Jameson, Bt, KCMG, British colonial statesman. , Edinburgh (() pronounced ; Scottish Gaelic: ) is the capital of Scotland and its second largest city. ... April 19 is the 109th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (110th in leap years). ... The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery in St Martins Place, London, England, which opened to the public in 1856. ... The University of Edinburgh (Scottish Gaelic: ), founded in 1582,[4] is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... , Edinburgh (() pronounced ; Scottish Gaelic: ) is the capital of Scotland and its second largest city. ... Sir Leander Starr Jameson, 1st Baronet, KCMG (February 9, 1853 – November 26, 1917), also known as Doctor Jim or The Doctor, was a British colonial statesman who was best known for his involvement in the Jameson Raid. ...

Publications

JAMESON, Professor Robert, James Wilson, and Hugh Murray, (1830) 'Narrative of Discovery and Adventure in Africa, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time: with illustrations of the geology, mineralogy, and zoology'. With a map; plans of the routes of Park, and of Denham and Clapperton; several engravings. First published in the Edinburgh Cabinet Library, 1830.

JAMESON, Robert, (1798) The Mineralogy of the Shetland Islands and of Arran.

JAMESON, Robert, (1800) Mineralogy of the Scottish Isles.

JAMESON, Professor Robert, (1804) System of Mineralogy.

JAMESON, Professor Robert, (1805) Mineralogical Description of Scotland, vol. i, part I.

JAMESON, Professor Robert, (1809) Elements of Geognosy.

JAMESON, Professor Robert, (1813) Mineralogical Travels through the Hebrides, Orkeny and Shetland Islands.

JAMESON, Professor Robert, (1821) Manual of Mineralogy.

Sources: Biographical History

Dictionary of Scientific Biography, volume II , ( New York, Scribner's, 1981)

Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol 12, ( London, William Benton, 1964)

Birse, Ronald M, Science at the University of Edinburgh 1583-1993, (Edinburgh, University of Edinburgh, 1994)

Devlin-Thorp, Sheila, Scotland's Cultural Heritage, (Edinburgh, University of Edinburgh, 1981)

Gillispie, Charles Clouston(ed), Dictionary of Scientific Biography, vol vii, (New York, Scribner's, 1972)

Grant, Alexander, The Story of the University of Edinburgh During its First 300 Years, vol.2, (London, Longmans, Green & Co, 1884)

Seymour Fort, G. (1918) Dr Jameson. London: Hurst and Blackett, Ltd., Paternoster House, E.C. - Biography of Sir Leander Starr Jameson, which notes that Starr's '...chief Gamaliel, however, was a Professor Grant, a man of advanced age, who had been a pupil of his great-uncle, the Professor of Natural History at Edinburgh.' (p.53).

Williams, TI and Lee, Sidney(eds), Dictionary of National Biography, vol x, (London, Smith, Elder & Co, 1908)

[See University of Edinburgh Library Special Collections Division: Robert Jameson's Papers; Sources of Biographical History are derived from the University of Edinburgh webpages [3].