History Scotland Magazine: Review - Science and Medicine in the Scottish Enlightenment

Science and Medicine in the Scottish Enlightenment

edited by Charles W.J. Withers and Paul Wood.

Tuckwell Press, 2002, pp. xv+364, Pbk, 25.

The Scottish Enlightenment has been the subject of a plethora of historiographical assessment, but, as the editors state, it is only in the last quarter-century that science has been considered as a key element of the process. Aptly dedicated to the late Roy Porter, whose interests were as eclectic as the Enlightenment itself, this book contains a collection of essays on scientific and medical aspects of this key period in Scottish and general intellectual history. The stated aim is to consolidate the status of science as an intrinsic feature of the Enlightenment.

The introductory chapter reviews the historiography and is fully referenced. Subsequent deal with: scientific instruments; the scientific, mathematical and social aspects of geography; science and Enlightenment in Glasgow by means of statistical analysis and assessment of the scientific community; the role of Colin Maclaurin as mathematician and as key influence on the expanding insurance industry; the explanation of procreation and role of religion; the contribution of William Smellie as scientist, editor and publisher; Charles Elliots role in medical publication and the international book trade; analysis of medical practice from the clinical case records of a Glasgow physician; scientific field-work with reference to geology; the various contributions of the generalist, Sir George Mackenzie of Coull. A short concluding chapter summarises the conclusions of the authors and raises further questions for future researchers.

The chapters vary considerably in length, but all are well written (though some are, somewhat irritatingly, couched in the first person). Most are successful in contextualising the specific content and indeed sustaining the case for science. The core and by far the longest - chapter on Glasgow provides copious and interesting statistical evidence and analysis of the Glasgow scientific community, pointing out the differences among the scientists of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, and the reasons why Glasgow was different. The chapters on Dr Cleghorns case notes and Sir George Mackenzie illustrate the transitional nature of this period the former apparently ahead of his time in medical practice; the latter bearing the trappings of the pre-Enlightenment polymath. Anita Guerrinis chapter on procreation is interesting, although some discussion may be needed about precisely when the Enlightenment started as well as the question of religion. Did George Garden and George Cheyne espouse Enlightenment principles ahead of their time, or had the process already started by the turn of the eighteenth century? The chapters on instruments, field-work and geography demonstrate the more practical aspects which have to be considered in relation to science. The practicalities of the Scottish Enlightenment helped to define its Scottishness.

A minor quibble is that, while chapters are fully referenced, it would have been helpful to have had a brief, selective bibliography of key items.

This book is a useful companion to Paul Woods edited volume The Scottish Enlightenment: Essays in Reinterpretation (Rochester University Press, 2000), which covers other aspects of the Enlightenment period. It illustrates a variety of intellectual and practical factors shaping science and medicine, and is a worthwhile addition to the historiography of this important period. Roy Porter would, surely, have approved.

Helen Dingwall
University of Stirling