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By
courtesy of Patrick A Copland, descendant of Professor
Copland, from a painting in his possession by John
Moir in 1817.
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Collection
Highlight
Professor
Patrick Copland
Professor
Patrick Copland (1748 -1822) was a natural philosopher
of national repute, whose connection with Marischal College
spanned 60 years.
A
son of the manse, Copland was born in Fintray, Aberdeenshire,
and graduated AM from Marischal in 1766. He studied under
an array of Aberdeen Enlightenment figures, including James
Beattie, professor of moral philosophy and logic, and co-founder
of the Aberdeen Philosophical Society.
In
1775, Copland was appointed regent and professor of philosophy
at Marischal College and there he remained, teaching continuously
until a month before his death in 1822.
Over
the course of his career, Copland taught over 2,000 students.
He was a popular and dedicated teacher whose services were
recognised in 1817 when he was awarded an honorary LLD by
his college. But perhaps his greatest contribution to university
education was the introduction of demonstration apparatus
in teaching natural philosophy. He was passionate about mechanical
science, and even ran and equipped his own workshop where
skilled tradesmen and craftsmen were employed in the production
of items in wood and metal. Many of these instruments survive
to this day in the University’s Natural Philosophy and
Marischal Museum collections.
Copland
is also remembered as a pioneer of public education, introducing
in 1785 a series of popular extra-mural classes in the city,
classes which ran until 1813. These pre-dated the mechanics’ institute
movement of the 1820s and have been credited with influencing
the founding of London’s Royal Institution in 1800.
More
information on the University’s demonstration equipment,
including Copland’s, can be found on the web pages
of the University of Aberdeen’s Natural
Philosophy Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments and Marischal
Museum.
For
more on Copland’s life and career, see
John S. Reid’s, ‘Patrick Copland, 1748–1822:
connections outside the college courtyard’, Aberdeen
University Review, 51 (1985–6), 226–50; ‘Patrick
Copland, 1748–1822: aspects of his life and times
at Marischal College’, Aberdeen University Review,
50 (1983–4), 359–79; ‘The Castlehill
observatory, Aberdeen’, Journal for the History of
Astronomy, 13 (1982), 84–96; ‘The remarkable
Professor Copland’, Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument
Society, 24 (1990), 2–5.
Balancing
cube, late 18th century
This
late 18th century balancing cube comes from Professor
Copland's cabinet. The wooden cube, with brass handles,
balances beyond its edge with support under the centre
of gravity of the whole shape. Copland was an educational
innovator who introduced the extensive use of demonstration
equipment in the teaching of this subject into universities.
More examples of Copland’s demonstration equipment
are held by the University of Aberdeen’s Natural
Philosophy Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments,
one of the most diverse collections of scientific instruments
in any British university. |
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University
of Aberdeen Museums ABDNP 200206 |
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| Petition
to Professor Copland regarding examinations in Latin,
1776 |
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In
1776, a petition was drawn up and signed by the
entirety of Copland’s first year class, requesting
that the public examination be carried out in “our
native language” and not, as was the case
at that time, in Latin: “The public examination
we apprehend is intended to prove what proficiency
we have made in Natural Philosophy, not in the
Latin tongue”.
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 Special
Libraries & Archives MSM 392 |
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Special Libraries & Archives MSM 392 |
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The
main instigator was believed to be a Londoner, James
Stephen, the grandfather of the founder of the Dictionary
of National Biography and great-grandfather of Virginia
Woolf. Stephen kept a memoir in which he surmised that
as Copland himself was not proficient in Latin, the
petition might in fact be welcomed. Whatever the reception,
the students’ request was acceded to after deliberation
by the principal and professors. |
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Special
Libraries & Archives MSM 392 |
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| Class
ticket of James Simpson, 1812-13 |
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Admission
ticket to a private course of tuition in natural philosophy
offered by Copland in 1812–13. These Mechanical
Philosophy classes, which included practical experiments,
ran three nights a week and were offered by Copland “chiefly
with a view to the practical application of those branches
of science to the Arts, & the common purposes of
Life”.
George
Birkbeck, (1776–1841), is
widely credited as the founding father of the mechanics’ institute
movement. However, Copland’s popular classes
for artisans pre-dated Birkbeck’s, running from
1785 to 1813.
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 Special
Libraries & Archives MSM 375 |
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| Notice
for popular classes on Mechanical Philosophy, 1809 |
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This
course introduced the principles of mechanics, hydrostatics,
pneumatics, optics, electricity, and magnetism, alongside
a programme of practical experiments. The classes ran
three nights a week and were offered “chiefly
with a view to the practical application of those branches
of science to the Arts, & the common purposes of
Life”.
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Special
Libraries & Archives MSM 375 |
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| The
Castlehill Observatory |
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In
1780-81 Copland raised a subscription of almost £400
to construct and furnish with the most up-to-date equipment,
the first publicly funded astronomical observatory
in Scotland. It was erected on the south-east corner
of the Castlehill and stood until 1796 when, under
pressure from the Council to re-fortify the hill, it
was removed to Marischal College.
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MSM 174/2, Lecture notes taken by William Corbet, 1814-15 |
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MSM 205/3, Lecture notes taken by William Strachan, 1819-20 |
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Extract
from William Milne’s Map of Aberdeen, 1789
in L mAa E Pla, Plans of the city of Aberdeen, 1661-1900 |
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| Lecture
notes taken by William Corbet, 1814-15 |
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Copland
believed passionately in the practical application
of physics. Such a utilitarian approach can be readily
discerned in many of his lecture notes which survive
in the University’s Archives. This description
and illustration of a fire engine comes under the heading
of ‘useful machines’. A more elegant illustration
is also shown from a separate set of Copland lectures.
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Special Libraries & Archives MSM 174/1
Special
Libraries & Archives MS
3376
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| Illustration for construction of a pipe organ,
c. 1800 |
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Special
Libraries & Archives MS 3376
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Music
played an important part in Copland’s
life. He was a manager of Aberdeen Musical Society and
corresponded on the subject with local lairds. He even
constructed his own pipe organ, which he had installed
in his house in Fountainhall. This beautiful illustration
comes from an anonymous set of Copland lecture notes. |
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