
During the 18th century Edinburgh was the intellectual hub of the Western world Adam Smith David Hume Dugald Stewart & Adam Ferguson delivered their diverse tomes on philosophy & political economy Others such as James Hutton Joseph Black Lord Hailes Sir John Clerk of Eldin & Robert Adam pushed ahead with new discoveries & ideas in the fields of science medicine law & architecture If Edinburgh was the beating heart of this Scottish Enlightenment then its physical embodiment was the New Town & the great civic improvements in the old medieval city In this informative & highly illustrated guide Sheila Szatkowski introduces the noteworthy buildings & people of 18th- & early 19th-century Edinburgh It is a book about people & places clubs & conversations & a celebration of how topography & cultural achievement came together to create the great enlightenment city that is Edinburgh