The Edinburgh Encyclopedia was an encyclopedia in 18 volumes, printed and published by William Blackwood

William Blackwood

William Blackwood was a Scottish publisher who founded the firm of William Blackwood & Sons.Blackwood was born of humble parents in Edinburgh. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to a firm of booksellers in Edinburgh, and he followed his calling also in Glasgow and London for several years...

 and edited by David Brewster

David Brewster

Sir David Brewster KH PRSE FRS FSA FSSA MICE was a Scottish physicist, mathematician, astronomer, inventor, writer and university principal.-Early life:...

 between 1808 and 1830. In competition with the Edinburgh-published Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia is generally considered to be strongest on scientific topics, where many of the articles were written by the editor.

Other contributors - "Gentlemen Eminent in Science and Literature" - included Adam Anderson, Charles Babbage

Charles Babbage

Charles Babbage, FRS was an English mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer who originated the concept of a programmable computer...

, Thomas Carlyle

Thomas Carlyle

Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era.He called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator.Coming from a strict Calvinist family, Carlyle was...

, Robert Gordon

Robert Gordon (minister)

The Rev. Dr Robert Gordon was a Scottish minister and writer. He was a prominent minister in the Disruption of the Free Church of Scotland from the Church of Scotland on18 May 1843.He was the inventor of a self-registering hygrometer.-Life:...

, Robert Edmond Grant

Robert Edmond Grant

Robert Edmond Grant MD FRCPEd FRS was born in Edinburgh and educated at Edinburgh University as a physician. He became one of the foremost biologists of the early 19th century at Edinburgh and subsequently the first Professor of Comparative Anatomy at University College London...

, John Leslie

John Leslie (physicist)

Sir John Leslie was a Scottish mathematician and physicist best remembered for his research into heat.Leslie gave the first modern account of capillary action in 1802 and froze water using an air-pump in 1810, the first artificial production of ice.In 1804, he experimented with radiant heat using...

, Henry Liston

Henry Liston

Henry Liston was a Scottish minister and inventor. Born on 30 June 1771 he was the oldest son of Robert Liston, minister of Aberdour, Fifeshire. He studied for the ministry and in 1793 became minister to the parish of Ecclesmachan, Linlithgowshire, and was clerk of its presbetery and in 1820 he...

, John Gibson Lockhart

John Gibson Lockhart

John Gibson Lockhart , was a Scottish writer and editor. He is best known as the author of the definitive "Life" of Sir Walter Scott...

 and Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE was a Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, and a noted road, bridge and canal builder.-Early career:...

.

In 1815 William Elford Leach

William Elford Leach

William Elford Leach FRS was an English zoologist and marine biologist.Leach was born at Hoe Gate, Plymouth, the son of a solicitor. At the age of twelve he went to school in Exeter, studying anatomy and chemistry. By this time he was already collecting marine samples from Plymouth Sound and along...

 published the first bibliography of entomology in Brewster's Edinburgh Encyclopedia (see Timeline of entomology – 1800–1850).