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Alexander Broadie

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The Scottish Enlightenment Paperback – September 1, 2007

by Alexander Broadie (Author)

4.2 56 ratings

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The Cambridge Companion to the Scottish Enlightenment (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy)
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The Scottish Enlightenment was one of the truly great intellectual and cultural movements of the world. Its achievements in science, philosophy, history, economics, and many other disciplines were immense; and its influence has hardly, if at all, been dimmed in the intervening two centuries. This book, written for the general reader, considers the achievement of this most astonishing period of Scottish history. It attends not only to the ideas that made the Scottish Enlightenment such a wondrous moment but also to the people themselves who generated these ideas—men such as David Hume and Adam Smith who are still read for the sake of the light they shed on contemporary issues.

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About the Author

Alexander Broadie is a Professor of Logic and Rhetoric at Glasgow University—a chair once occupied by Adam Smith—and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He was appointed the first Henry Duncan Prize lecturer in Scottish Studies at the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1990-1993) and Gifford Lecturer in Natural Theology at Aberdeen University in 1994 before taking up post at Glasgow University in 1995. He was awarded the degree of Doctorat de l'université honoris causa by Blaise Pascal University, Clermont-Ferrand, for his contribution to Franco-Scottish relations in the field of the history of philosophy. Alexander was born in Edinburgh in 1942.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Birlinn Ltd (September 1, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1841586404
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1841586403
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.3 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.8 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,139,057 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,231 in Scotland History
- #18,353 in Historical Study (Books)
- #58,526 in World History (Books)

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Philip W. Henry

A Cauldron of Intellectual Energy

Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2011

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The Scottish Enlightenment

There are periods associated with great intellectual achievement; the Golden Age of Pericles; the art and architecture of the Italian Renaissance; the literary and philosophical genius of fin-de-siecle Vienna; the Dutch Grand Masters and the Golden Age of Holland; Victorian England and the St. Petersburg of Peter the Great who brought the culture of the West to the previously isolated Russia.

Then there is the lesser known Scottish Enlightenment, which brought together some of the finest minds in intellectual history. Pure and applied science flourished at the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. Scientists developed new approaches to physics, chemistry, optics, mathematics and medicine. William Thompson (Later Lord Kelvin) developed major principles of thermodynamics; James Watt developed the steam engine, and William Cullen, a physician and chemist explored new frontiers, James Clerk Maxwell explained the mysteries of Saturn's rings and developed the principle of electromagnetism. James Hutton founded the modern science of geology which was expanded upon by James Playfair. The botanist Robert Brown discovered the important principle of Brownian Motion which was later to turn up in Einstein's theory of relativity. Visitors to Edinburgh were astonished that so much brilliance was to be encountered in this intellectual incubator in the cold, inhospitable climate of the Hebrides.

In recent years, there has been an outpouring of scholarly studies of the Scottish Enlightenment, among them Alexander Broadie's "The Scottish Enlightenment: The Historical Age of the Historical Nation" and "Crowded with Genius: The Scottish Enlightenment - Edinburgh's Moment of the Mind" by James Buchan. Crowded with Genius: The Scottish Enlightenment: Edinburgh's Moment of the Mind Most studies of the Scottish Enlightenment begin with David Hume and Francis Hutcheson , the most important moral philosophers of the movement, and Adam Smith, the first modern economist. A key element of their thought was skepticism - a refusal to accept on their face the arguments of ecclesiastic authority.
Within a relatively short time, the independent work of these various intellectuals began to circulate among the others, resulting in a synergistic effect. Broadie argues that enlighten-ment is more than freedom of thought, it is freedom of expression, without fear of reprisals from authorities.

How a grimy, overcrowded, heavily fortified Medieval city like Edinburgh became a vibrant, social intellectual center is the story of this book. Broadie occupies the same professorial seat at Glasgow University as Adam Smith, the founder of modern economics. The University has had, since its founding in 1451 prominent Enlightenment figures including Smith, Hucheson, physicist Lord Kelvin, James Watt, and numerous politicians including two British prime ministers and missionary=explorer David Livingston.
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10 people found this helpful

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j g hair md

a hard read.

Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2014

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This is a very detailed work on the chosen topic. Written more like a text book. A hard read for the casual reader of history, which I am.

2 people found this helpful

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Steven Post

It is great being of Scottish heritage.

Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2013

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Great overview by the contribution of the Scots to our cultural history. I was hoping for more information on the scientific contribution by the Scots, however, it was a good overall philosophical review of this period.

3 people found this helpful

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Peter J P

Truly "an accessible primer"

Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2010

I came to this book as a general reader with only the slightest knowledge of the Scottish Enlightenment and, to be honest, no appreciation of its significant and lasting impact on religious, political, economic, scientific, and aesthetic thinking right into the present day. On the back cover of the book, the Edinburgh Review is quoted and it is worth repeating: "an accessible primer on the main ideas of the Scottish Enlightenment." Broadie's book is accessible and I am all the more grateful for that fact as I reflect on the relevance of the ideas of the Enlightenment to my Western identity. In that sense, this is not dry history but rather essential content and context for today's political and "culture wars" and, indeed, why we resist the barbarian's demand that we submit and return to the 7th century. Mind you, that's just me talking; Broadies's "The Scottish Enlightenment" is not a polemic. It is forthright, unbiased history without any agenda other than, well, providing the reader with "an accessible primer" on the Scottish Enlightenment. I highly recommend this book. Important stuff, well delivered. Thank you, Alexander Broadie.

23 people found this helpful

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Bruce Crocker

If It's Not Scottish, It's ....

Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2003

As a person of mildly above average intelligence and a very broad range of interests, I often have friends suggest that I should try out for Jeopardy. My standard [and honest] response [regardless of whether the comment was meant as a compliment or an insult] is that I have incredibly large gaps in my knowledge and I'd probably stink at Jeopardy. Alexander Broadie and his scholarly AND entertaining book The Scottish Enlightenment came to rescue me from one of my more embarrassing knowledge gaps. You'd've figured a person with some Scottish blood in his veins and who teaches at a high school that has a Scottish theme and a Highlander as a mascot would know a whole bunch about the pivotal period in history know as the Scottish Enlightenment?! The knowledge gap surfaced when I read Jack Repcheck's recent biography of James Hutton [The Man Who Found Time]. I researched the available literature on the Scottish Enlightenment and Broadie's book appeared to have the qualities needed to plug my knowledge gap. Written for the interested reader, The Scottish Enlightenment was scholarly enough to give me the short course that I wanted, but interesting and idiosyncratic enough to avoid reading like a textbook. It left me feeling quite satisfied about my knowledge of the Scottish Enlightenment and, like any good book, left me with a few questions to explore further [the connection between the Scottish Enlightenment and the American Revolution - enquiring minds want to know!]. I highly recommend Alexander Broadie's book to anyone with an interest in history, Scotland, the Enlightenment, or the Scottish Enlightenment.

48 people found this helpful

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John E. Banks

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2015

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This book was difficult to rread.

One person found this helpful

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Robert C. Whitten

Mediocre

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2013

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This book was very difficult to follow. If one wishes an one that is easy to read, choose "How the Scots Invented the Modern World."

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Neasa MacErlean

The sociable, intellectual society of Scotland

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 23, 2013

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In the streets and salons of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, groups of extraordinarily talented, rational men chatted to each other about maths and philosophy, geology and geometry, painting and politics and other areas and helped each other reach new levels of discovery in the 1700s. Aberdeen, for instance, produced Thomas Reid who invented a new kind of geometry that departed from the traditions of Euclid (what we learn in school) and paved the way for Einstein. What is more, Reid's geometry is so simple and clear that anyone who could follow Euclid's parallel lines and triangles would also follow Reid's curves and straight lines that bisect each other twice. And the author of this book, Alexander Broadie, also manages to explain in a clear and interesting way Adam Smith's development of property law, David Hume's skepticism about even the most virtuous of us who enter politics and the new ideas of dozens of other thinkers. Why did the enlightenment flourish at this time in this place? There was a tolerance for new ideas, says Broadie, and these people helped develop each other's thoughts by being highly sociable and spending a lot of time together. Aberdeen, tracing its roots back to 1411, was the first university to be founded and, like Glasgow and Edinburgh which were founded soon after, it had strong and regular contact with the European centres of learning. This is one of those books that opens your mind - and in the happy, optimistic way that comes with rational thought and development!

9 people found this helpful

Jonty

When Scotland lead the world

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 4, 2021

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A very good and comprehensive book for the general reader on this important period in the history of ideas when Scotland lead the world.

SW3890

Great Overview

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2013

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This book is a fantastic overview of the Enlightenment, it's lucid and interesting and will start as a fantastic point of entry for anyone interested in this topic. It's split into themes which incorporate the works of the big writers and gives an indication of previous scholarship. I find myself going back to it to check particular sections, so it continues to be a very useful volume.

5 people found this helpful

Karen

What a time to be alive...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 26, 2015

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A gift for a member of the legal profession in New York and trust it will be as good a read for them as our own copy has been for us.

Ivan Alonso

Nice holiday read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 31, 2019

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