Astronomy

The Regius Chair of (Practical) Astronomy was founded within the Faculty of Arts in 1785, with Robert Blair (1748-1828) appointed as the first professor, though he gave no lectures due to having neither observatory nor instruments. Instead he focussed on research. On his death it was decided to leave the Chair vacant until and an observatory was available. The University was given unlimited use of the Royal Observatory on Calton Hill in 1834 and Thomas Henderson (1798-1844]] was appointed jointly Regius Professor and Astronomer Royal for Scotland the same year. He too failed to lecture.

The third professor (and second Astronomer Royal for Scotland) was Charles Piazzi Smyth (1819-1900). He introduced the first course of lectures and also pursued research activities on an international scale. However resources were limited and and teaching had fallen victim to this. By the time Smyth retired in 1888, the Royal Observatory was also in a poor condition.