scholarly journals IV. A second letter from Mr. Colin McLaurin, Professor of Mathematicks in the University of Edinburgh and F. R. S. to Martin Folkes, Esq; concerning the roots of equations, with the demonstration of other rules in algebra; being the continuation of the letter published in the Philosophical Transactions, N° 394

1730 ◽  
Vol 36 (408) ◽  
pp. 59-96 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
First Principle ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
Roots Of Equations ◽  
The University

Sir, in the year 1725, I wrote to you that I had a method of demonstrating Sir Isaac Newton's rule concerning the impossible roots of equations, deduced from this obvious principle, that the squares of the differences of real quantities must always be positive; and some time after, i sent you the first principle of that method, which were published in the Philosophical Transactions for the month of May, 1726.

scholarly journals Justifying Unparticipated Causality in Proclus

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Greig
Keyword(s):  
A Priori ◽  
First Principle ◽  
Efficient Cause ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
Separate Source ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
First Cause ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient ◽  
The University ◽  
Phd Thesis

Proclus introduces the concept of the unparticipated (ἀμέθεκτον) (P1) among two other terms— the participated (P2) and participant (P3)—as the first principle (ἀρχή) of any given series of entities or Forms in his metaphysical structure. For instance, the unparticipated monad (P1), Soul, generates all individual, participated souls (P2), which in turn generate the attribute of life in their respective, participating bodies (P3). Proclus looks at (P2) as an efficient cause of (P3), where (P2) must be the attribute in actuality in relation to the attribute it brings about in (P3). At the outset, this suggests that (P2) is necessary and sufficient for (P3), which then implies a problem for positing (P1): if (P2) is doing the causal legwork for (P3), what role does (P1) play? One of Proclus’ main explanations is that (P1) is responsible for ‘unifying’ the multiple participated entities (P2), so that the commonality of the participated entities (P2) must go back to a separate source (P1). However, one could easily respond that this just amounts to a reversion to a priori Platonist principles for transcendent, separate Forms without providing a real justification for the necessity of (P1) as a cause. In my talk, I wish to elaborate on how Proclus thinks about (P1)’s type of causation in relation to (P2) and (P3), particularly showing why (P2) for Proclus is ultimately insufficient as an efficient cause compared to (P1) as the absolute first cause for a given series.[Early work on a PhD thesis chapter — presentation for the University of Edinburgh, July 16, 2017. Any comments or feedback are welcome!]

scholarly journals Plotinus and Aristotle on the Simplicity of the Divine Intellect

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Greig
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
First Principle ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Subject And Object ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The University

Aristotle and Plotinus both demonstrate the existence of a first principle as cause of the existence of all things. Aristotle puts forward that this first principle is a divine intellect which thinks on itself, and in being the highest being in complete actuality and without potentiality, it is also absolutely simple. Plotinus, on the other hand, sees reason to assert that the divine intellect can not be absolutely simple but a duality of some sort. Thus for Plotinus the first principle, as a cause of unity for all things, must be beyond the divine intellect and beyond being as an absolutely simple principle. Comparing Plotinus to Aristotle, Plotinus’ position appears odd at the outset given that he also holds to the divine intellect being completely in act and that it thinks on itself. Why thinking should be dual even when it is self-referential and unified in its activity is not apparent, and so Aristotle’s position seems the more coherent one. Yet, through an analysis of both positions, this dissertation proposes that Plotinus better accounts for the problem of self-intellection as requiring some form of distinction in thought while maintaining an identity between the subject and object of thought. If absolute simplicity is an essential attribute to being the first principle, Plotinus’ position is ultimately more consistent in positing a first principle beyond the divine intellect while also holding to a more coherent understanding of thinking with his understanding of divine intellect as a duality instead of an absolute simplicity.[MSc thesis for the University of Edinburgh, completed Aug. 14, 2013.][This is an early work that I am interested to revise and update further, especially in light of recent papers on the issue in Plotinus. I welcome any feedback or comments.]

John Robertson Henderson (1863–1925): Scotland, India and anomuran taxonomy

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-75
Author(s):  
P. G. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Christian College ◽  
Apparent Absence ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
Marine Station ◽  
The University ◽  
Crustacean Taxonomy

John Robertson Henderson was born in Scotland and educated at the University of Edinburgh, where he qualified as a doctor. His interest in marine natural history was fostered at the Scottish Marine Station for Scientific Research at Granton (near Edinburgh) where his focus on anomuran crustaceans emerged, to the extent that he was eventually invited to compile the anomuran volume of the Challenger expedition reports. He left Scotland for India in autumn 1885 to take up the Chair of Zoology at Madras Christian College, shortly after its establishment. He continued working on crustacean taxonomy, producing substantial contributions to the field; returning to Scotland in retirement in 1919. The apparent absence of communication with Alfred William Alcock, a surgeon-naturalist with overlapping interests in India, is highlighted but not resolved.

The training of a polar scientist: Patrick Geddes and the student career of William Speirs Bruce

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. N. SWINNEY
Keyword(s):  
Future Career ◽  
New Information ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
The University

ABSTRACT: The university career of the polar scientist William Speirs Bruce (1867–is examined in relation to new information, discovered amongst the Bruce papers in the University of Edinburgh, which elucidates the role played by Patrick Geddes in shaping Bruce's future career. Previous accounts of Bruce's university years, based mainly on the biography by Rudmose Brown (1923), are shown to be in error in several details.

Adam Ferguson and the Idea of Civil Society

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Smith
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
David Hume ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Scottish Enlightenment ◽  
Commercial Society ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
English Speaking World ◽  
The University

Adam Ferguson was a Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and a leading member of the Scottish Enlightenment. A friend of David Hume and Adam Smith, Ferguson was among the leading exponents of the Scottish Enlightenment’s attempts to develop a science of man and was among the first in the English speaking world to make use of the terms civilization, civil society, and political science. This book challenges many of the prevailing assumptions about Ferguson’s thinking. It explores how Ferguson sought to create a methodology for moral science that combined empirically based social theory with normative moralising with a view to supporting the virtuous education of the British elite. The Ferguson that emerges is far from the stereotyped image of a nostalgic republican sceptical about modernity, and instead is one much closer to the mainstream Scottish Enlightenment’s defence of eighteenth century British commercial society.

Thinking About Scots Law

1996 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Rodger
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
British Empire ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Case Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
Memorial Lecture ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
The University

This article is the revised text of the first W A Wilson Memorial Lecture, given in the Playfair Library, Old College, in the University of Edinburgh, on 17 May 1995. It considers various visions of Scots law as a whole, arguing that it is now a system based as much upon case law and precedent as upon principle, and that its departure from the Civilian tradition in the nineteenth century was part of a general European trend. An additional factor shaping the attitudes of Scots lawyers from the later nineteenth century on was a tendency to see themselves as part of a larger Englishspeaking family of lawyers within the British Empire and the United States of America.

Teaching Computer Based Historical Data Analysis

1994 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Anderson ◽  
Robert J. Morris
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Social History ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Historical Data Analysis ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
The University

A case study ofa third year course in the Department of Economic and Social History in the University of Edinburgh isusedto considerandhighlightaspects of good practice in the teaching of computer-assisted historical data analysis.

More Christian Apocrypha

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 16-21
Author(s):  
Tony Burke
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
North American ◽  
English Language ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time ◽  
Medieval Christianity

Scholars interested in the Christian Apocrypha (CA) typically appeal to CA collections when in need of primary sources. But many of these collections limit themselves to material believed to have been written within the first to fourth centuries CE. As a result a large amount of non-canonical Christian texts important for the study of ancient and medieval Christianity have been neglected. The More Christian Apocrypha Project will address this neglect by providing a collection of new editions (some for the first time) of these texts for English readers. The project is inspired by the More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Project headed by Richard Bauckham and Jim Davila from the University of Edinburgh. Like the MOTP, the MCAP is envisioned as a supplement to an earlier collection of texts—in this case J. K. Elliott’s The Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford 1991), the most recent English-language CA collection (but now almost two decades old). The texts to be included are either absent in Elliott or require significant revision. Many of the texts have scarcely been examined in over a century and are in dire need of new examination. One of the goals of the project is to spotlight the abilities and achievements of English (i.e., British and North American) scholars of the CA, so that English readers have access to material that has achieved some exposure in French, German, and Italian collections.

Correlation of Glycemic Control Parameters in Non-Diabetic Persons with Cardiovascular Risk Scores - Results from a Cross- Sectional Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-110
Author(s):  
Gina Botnariu ◽  
Norina Forna ◽  
Alina Popa ◽  
Raluca Popescu ◽  
Alina Onofriescu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cardiovascular Risk ◽  
Glycemic Control ◽  
Tolerance Test ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Risk Scores ◽  
Oral Glucose ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
Fasting Glycaemia ◽  
The University

To assess the correlation between main parameters of glycemic control and cardiovascular risk scores in non-diabetic persons. Risk scores were calculated by using the University of Edinburgh Risk Calculator. Risk scores are used to estimate the probability of cardiovascular disease in individuals who have not already developed major atherosclerotic disease. We correlated the results of these scores with the parameters that describes the glycaemic profile: preprandial glicaemia, HbA1c and 1 hour and 2 h post-prandial glycaemia, determined during Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT).Both fasting glycaemia and HbA1c significantly correlated with cardiovascular risk scores calculated for a period of 10 years. The recorded post-prandial glycaemic values at 1h and 2h after glucose loading didn�t significantly correlate with calculated scores, in the study group. The observed correlations underline the importance of glycaemia in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases.

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