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The Edinburgh Encyclopædia is an encyclopaedia in 18 volumes, printed and published by William Blackwood and edited by David Brewster between 1808 and 1830. In competition with the Edinburgh-published Encyclopædia Britannica,[1] the Edinburgh Encyclopædia is generally considered to be strongest on scientific topics, where many of the articles were written by the editor.[2]
The Edinburgh Encyclopædia was originally planned to encompassed 12 volumes, but by the time the final volume was published, in 1830, it counted 18 volumes. Some subjects, such as the polarization of light and electromagnetism, had not even been heard of when the project began, and yet the Encyclopedia had articles on them. The electromagnetism article was even contributed by Hans Christian Ørsted, the founder of modern electromagnetic studies. It also included information on contemporary events such as Christopher Hansteen's 1829 expedition to Siberia.[3]
In 1815 William Elford Leach published the first bibliography of entomology in Brewster's Edinburgh Encyclopædia (see Timeline of entomology – 1800–1850).
Joseph Parker of Philadelphia and Whiting & Watson of New York City printed American editions, both in 1832.[citation needed]
A list of major contributors, with indications of their articles, was published in 1830.[4]
Other contributors – "Gentlemen Eminent in Science and Literature" – included Adam Anderson, Charles Babbage, Thomas Carlyle,[5] Robert Gordon, Robert Edmond Grant,[6] John Leslie,[7] Henry Liston, John Gibson Lockhart[5] and Thomas Telford.
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