Key facts and figures

Science, medicine and engineering

• Robert Anderson (1834-1921). Citizen of Edinburgh . Anderson was a leading Scottish architect and military engineer. His works include the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Glasgow Central Station Hotel, the Dome of Old College and the McEwan Hall.
• Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922). Born and educated in Edinburgh. He is credited with the invention of the telephone.
• Charles Darwin (1809-1882). Educated at the University of Edinburgh. Founder of the theory of natural selection.
• James Hutton (1726-1797). Born, educated and lived in Edinburgh for most of his life. He is considered the father of modern geology.
• Joseph Lister (1827-1912). Taught at the University of Edinburgh. Pioneer of antiseptic surgery.
• Sir Robert Lorimer (1864-1929). Born, educated and lived in Edinburgh. A prolific Scottish architect, he designed the war memorial at Edinburgh Castle and the Thistle Chapel at St Giles' Cathedral.
• John Napier (1550-1617). Citizen of Edinburgh. Most renowned as the inventor of logarithms and for making common the use of the decimal point in mathematics and arithmetic.
• Sir Patrick Geddes (1854-1932). Biologist, sociologist and pioneer of town planning. Influential in the construction of parts of Edinburgh 's Old Town.
• Elsie Inglis (1864-1917) Lived and worked in Edinburgh. An innovative Scottish doctor who championed the provision of adequate medical care for women in Edinburgh. Her picture appears on the £50 banknote issued by the Clydesdale Bank in 2009.
• Richard Shaw (1831-1912). Born in Edinburgh. Influential Georgian architect known especially for his large country houses.
• James Simpson (1811-1870). Lived and worked in Edinburgh. Discovered the anaesthetic properties of chloroform.
• Andrew Meikle (1719-1811). Born and lived. Inventor of the threshing machine, a device used to remove the outer husks from grains of wheat. This was regarded as one of the key developments of the British Agricultural Revolution in the late 18th century.
• William Adam (1689-1748). Lived and worked in Edinburgh. Scottish architect, mason, and entrepreneur - he was the foremost architect of his time in Scotland. Among his best known works are Hopetoun House (Edinburgh) and Duff House (Banff).
• Robert Adam (1728-1792). Educated and lived in Edinburgh. Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. The son of William Adam, Scotland's foremost architect of the time, he assisted the family business on projects such as the building of Inveraray Castle and the continuing extensions of Hopetoun House.
• Robert William Thomson (1822 -1873). Lived in Edinburgh. Original inventor of the pneumatic tyre, the first self-filling pen and the first steam traction engine to be used for haulage (road tractor). He was also the first person to use electricity to detonate explosives and patented many rubber vulcanising techniques.
• Joseph Black (1728-1799). Lived and died in Edinburgh. Scottish physician, known for his discoveries of latent heat, specific heat, and carbon dioxide.
• Ian Wilmut (b.1944). Lives in Edinburgh and teaches at the University of Edinburgh. Best known as the leader of the research group that in 1996 first cloned Dolly the sheep. He was granted an OBE in 1999 for services to embryo development.
• James Gillespie Graham (1776-1855). Lived and worked in Edinburgh. Scottish Gothic architect who's principal works include St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh and the Highland Tolbooth Church (now the Hub) at the top of the Royal Mile.

Business and economics

• Sir Tom Farmer (b.1940). Born in Leith and lives in Edinburgh. Founder of the Kwik-Fit chain of garages.
• John Menzies (1808-1879). Born and lived in Edinburgh. Founder of John Menzies plc, most widely known for their chain of book and stationery shops sold to WH Smith in 1998.
• Sir David Murray (b.1951). Scottish national, educated in Edinburgh. Successful entrepreneur and chairman of Rangers FC.
• Adam Smith (1723-1790). Lived and died in Edinburgh. A Scottish moral philosopher and pioneer of modern economics. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment.

Politics and philosophy

• David Hume (1711-1776). Born, educated and lived in Edinburgh. A Scottish philosopher and historian who was a leading figure of the Enlightenment. He is considered one of the giants of Western philosophy.
• Gordon Brown (b. 1951). Studied at Edinburgh University. Former Prime Minister of the UK .
  
• Alistair Darling (b.1953). Lives in Edinburgh, currently the MP for Edinburgh South West. Former Chancellor of the Exchequer 2007-2010.
• Tony Blair (b.1953). Born in Edinburgh and studied at Fettes College. Former Prime Minister of the UK .
• Katharine Stewart-Murray (Duchess of Atholl) (1874-1960). Born in Edinburgh. Scottish noblewoman and leading Conservative politician.
• George Brown (1818-1880). Born and educated in Edinburgh. Politician and a founding father of Canada.
• Eliza Wigham (1820-1899). Born and lived in Edinburgh. She was the leading light on the Edinburgh Ladies Emancipation Society. She was also prominent in the temperance, suffrage and peace movements in the late 19th century.
• Adam Ferguson (1723-1816). Lived in Edinburgh and taught at the University of Edinburgh . Philosopher and historian of the Scottish Enlightenment. He is sometimes called "the father of modern sociology."
• John Playfair (1748-1819). Lived in Edinburgh. Scottish scientist and mathematician, and a professor of natural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. Best known for his book illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth (1802), which summarized the work of James Hutton - it was through this book that Hutton's principle of uniformitarianism first reached a wide audience.

Other

• James Braidwood (1800-1861). Born, educated and lived in Edinburgh. Founded the world's first municipal fire service in Edinburgh in 1824, and was the first director of the London Fire Engine Establishment
• John Knox (c.1510-1572). Born in Edinburgh. A Scottish clergyman and leader of the Protestant Reformation who is considered the founder of the Presbyterian denomination.
  
• Alexander Laing (1793-1826). Born and educated in Edinburgh. Scottish explorer and the first European to reach Timbuktu.
• Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville (1742-1811). Born, educated and lived in Edinburgh. Scottish lawyer and politician. He was the first Secretary of State for War and both the first and last person to be impeached in the United Kingdom. The Melville monument in St Andrew Square is dedicated to him.
• Founders of Encyclopedia Britannica (Colin Macfarquhar and Andrew Bell). The former was a bookseller and printer, the latter an engraver. Both were from Edinburgh and the first edition of the Britannica was published in Edinburgh in 1768 under the pseudonym "A Society of Gentlemen in Scotland".
• Deacon Brodie (1741-1788). Born and lived in Edinburgh. Scottish cabinet-maker and Edinburgh city councillor, who maintained a secret life as a burglar. The dichotomy between Brodie's respectable façade, and his real nature inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
• Burke and Hare. Both lived in Edinburgh , where they murdered 16 victims and sold their bodies to Dr. Knox, a private anatomy lecturer whose students were drawn from Edinburgh Medical College.
• Greyfriars Bobby (1855/1856-1872). Skye terrier who became known in 19th-century Edinburgh after reportedly spending 14 years guarding the grave of his owner, John Gray, until he died. A statue and fountain was erected in 1873 at the southern end of the George IV Bridge to commemorate him.
• Mary Queen of Scots (1541-1587). Spent her early years in Edinburgh, returning to rule Scotland in 1561. Mary was forced to abdicate the throne in 1567, in favour of her one-year-old son James VI. She was imprisoned in England for 19 years and eventually executed for her involvement in three plots to assassinate Elizabeth I.
• Douglas Haig (1861-1928). Born in Edinburgh. British soldier and senior commander (field marshal) during World War I. Most notably he was commander during the Battle of the Somme, the 3rd Battle of Ypres and the series of victories leading to the German surrender in 1918.