Scarica Edinburgh per PC

1. There is no doubt that the Scottish Enlightenment was cradled, nurtured and reached its zenith in Edinburgh, where a veritable storm of intellectual fervour accompanied the extension of the squalid, overcrowded and almost medieval Old Town into the elegant Georgian marvel of urban planning, which constitutes the New Town.

2. The background to why I created this guide to the Edinburgh Enlightenment is that I was born in the 1950’s in Edinburgh, Scotland, where I was a youthful witness to the efforts of a population determined to mitigate the austerity of war and rediscover the city’s cultural vibrancy, enshrined in its heritage as the cradle of the Scottish Enlightenment.

3. Enrolled at the Royal High School, I was constantly reminded of the institution’s ancient and illustrious history, having been founded in 1128 and having provided a classical education to the majority of the impresarios of the Edinburgh Enlightenment.

4. The first walk concentrates on the Old Town of Edinburgh, while the second walk takes place in the New Town, construction of which began in the middle of the 18th.

5. In 2002 I saw an opportunity to bring my varied past experiences to bear on the HIV epidemic in Africa and I convinced the company to transfer me to the Bristol-Myers-Squibb Foundation as medical director of the charity’s $100 million “Secure the Future” program for HIV in southern Africa.

6. The two walks described in this guide are designed to introduce the user to the Edinburgh Enlightenment of the 18th.

7. In 2007 I retired from BMS and began work with Baylor College of Medicine’s Paediatric AIDS Initiative, which has pioneered care and treatment for children infected and affected by HIV in Africa and Romania.

8. Such is the case with the Edinburgh Enlightenment, which is often said to have flourished for a century beginning around 1740.

9. By the age of twenty-four, I began work as a doctor, but having already tasted the thrill of research, I embarked on a doctorate at London University and in 1984 received my PhD with a thesis in cardiac physiology.

10. Throughout the two walks, first in the Old Town and then the New Town, you will see evidence both of this earlier deprivation and the subsequent intellectual and cultural explosion.

11. The two walks are delineated by the topography of the city, which creates an atmosphere of unique and almost unreal theatricality, as though the inhabitants had conspired to build a stage set, just to impress their visitors.