Today marks the eighteenth installment in a series of articles by HumanProgress.org called Centers of Progress. Where does progress happen? The story of civilization is in many ways the story of the city. It is the city that has helped to create and define the modern world. This bi-weekly column will give a short overview of urban centers that were the sites of pivotal advances in culture, economics, politics, technology, etc.

Our eighteenth Center of Progress is Edinburgh. The city was at the heart of the Scottish Enlightenment – a vital period in intellectual history that spanned the 18th and early 19th centuries. The thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment made important breakthroughs in economics, mathematics, architecture, medicine, poetry, chemistry, theatre, engineering, portraiture, and geology.

Today, Edinburgh remains Scotland’s intellectual and cultural center, as well as its capital. The city’s name comes from an old Celtic word, Eidyn, which is a name for the area, and burgh, which means fortress. A hilly city on Scotland’s east coast, Edinburgh is home to a famous castle dating to at least the 12th century. Edinburgh Castle is Scotland’s most-visited tourist attraction, drawing over 2 million visitors in 2019 alone. The city is also home to the University of Edinburgh, one of Scotland’s most prestigious universities. Edinburgh’s nicknames include Auld Reekie (Old Smoky) for Old Town’s smoky chimneys. The city is also sometimes called Auld Greekie, or the “Athens of the North,” for the city’s role as a hub of philosophy. Edinburgh’s medieval Old Town and neoclassical New Town together comprise a single UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Archeological evidence suggests that the area where Edinburgh now stands has been inhabited since at least 8,500 BC. Celtic tribespeople were the main inhabitants. Over the centuries, the area was ruled by various peoples, including Welsh-speaking Brythonic Celts. Edinburgh came under Scottish rule around 960 AD, when King Indulf the Aggressor seized the settlement. Edinburgh became the Scottish capital in 1437, replacing Scone.

Scotland in the 18th century had just undergone decades of political and economic turmoil. Disruption was caused by the House of Orange’s ousting of the House of Stuart, the Jacobite Rebellions, the failed and costly colonial Darien Scheme, famine, and the 1707 Union of Scotland and England. Yet Scotland, particularly Edinburgh, were to embark on an exciting new journey.

If you could visit Edinburgh during the Scottish Enlightenment, you would enter a cold, compact, walled-off city of winding, cobblestone streets. The Scottish author James Buchan has described the city of the era as ̶