This photograph, taken in the old Andersonian building, shows the Natural Philosophy laboratory of Professor James Blyth (Professor of Natural Philosophy 1880-1906). From left to right, the staff are Andrew Scobbie (mechanic); A. MacDonald; James Blyth; Dr James Muir (later Professor, 1906-1938, historian of the College and biographer of John Anderson); and Vincent J. Blyth (the Professor’s son who later went into industry).

The teaching of Natural Philosophy originated in 1796 at Anderson’s Institution with the appointment of the first Professor of Natural Philosophy, Thomas Garnett. It was not until later, however, that a department formally came into existence. From at least 1899, there are references to the Department of Natural Philosophy.

James Blyth was appointed Chair of Natural Philosophy in 1880, a position he kept until his death in 1906. Blyth contributed to the popular evening classes in natural philosophy as well as offering day classes. A wide range of subjects were covered in both the day and evening classes including: theoretical mechanics, acoustics, heat and optics and electricity and magnetism. Classes also included practical laboratory demonstrations.  

Blyth would probably not recognise the department today due to the many changes which have occurred. In 1968 the department split into the Department of Natural Philosophy (in 1983 renamed the Department of Physics) and the Department of Applied Physics. The two were reunited as the Department of Physics and Applied Physics in 1986. In 2002 the department was renamed the Department of Physics.

Archives reference: OP 4/96/1 Staff of Natural Philosophy Department, Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College, c. 1902

This is a photograph of one of the world’s first structures to generate electricity from wind power. It was designed and built by James Blyth (1839-1906), a pioneering professor of Natural Philosophy at the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College. 

Blyth was born in Marykirk in Kincardineshire in 1839 where he attended the parish school and later Montrose Academy. He studied at the University of Edinburgh and graduated with a BA in 1861, completing his MA in 1871.  He spent his early career working as a tutor and teacher. In 1880 he was appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy at Anderson’s College (later the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College), where he taught until his death in 1906.

Blyth’s research concentrated on electrical problems, such as the telephone and microphone, and on the generation and storage of electricity from wind power. He began to experiment with windmill construction in 1885, building a windmill in the garden of his house in Marykirk. The windmill was a 33 feet high cloth-sailed, horizontal structure. The electricity generated was stored in batteries or ‘accumulators’ and was used to power the lights of the cottage.  This early design had its faults. Blyth found that the cloth sails were not very successful. When the wind was too strong he had to stop it to prevent the sails being torn to pieces. To remedy this, he built a new windmill in 1891. This image is of this new windmill. In this new design, the cloth sails were replaced with semi cylindrical boxes attached to four strong arms. This design proved much more satisfactory, reaching a terminal speed instead of racing in strong winds.

Blyth was granted a patent to protect his invention in 1891 and awarded the Brisbane Gold Medal by the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1892 for his research.

Not everyone was impressed with Blyth’s work, however. He had offered the surplus electricity from the windmill for lighting the main street in Marykirk but the locals rejected his offer, fearing electricity ‘the work of The Devil’!

Archives reference: OM/17/8 Stereoscopic photograph of 'Box Horizontal Windmill', Marykirk, Kincardineshire, around 1888.

The summer fete in the Learning and Teaching Building, on Wednesday, saw beautiful blue skies and sunshine while staff and students celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of our Royal Charter. It was 60 years to the day the ‘university’ status of the institution was ‘put under seal’ by Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral.

The Archives and Special Collections team were delighted to bring the Royal Charter itself out of the security and tranquility of the archives and onto campus, in a special protective case, so that Strathclyders could catch a glimpse of the very important record.

We really enjoyed catching up with colleagues from around the University, and were positioned next to the Bedellus, Samuel Stewart, who had the ceremonial mace, jubilee cap, and some of the gorgeous ceremonial robes on show.

We are looking forward to further Jubilee celebrations as 2024 continues!

James Croll’s name appears alongside eminent scientists of the 19th century but his career began as the janitor of Anderson’s University in 1860.

This position granted him access to all of the University’s resources and, although he had no formal education in the sciences, he began submitting papers for publication in the ‘Philosophical magazine’ with his theories on physical geology. These articles impressed leading Scottish scientists Archibald Geikie, Andrew Ramsay, and William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) who nominated him as secretary of the Geological Survey of Scotland in 1867.

In 1875 Croll published his groundbreaking theories on the probable causes of climatic change over geological time in his book entitled ‘Climate and time in their geological relation’. His intellectual contribution to the debate on climate change fostered links with distinguished scientists such as Charles Darwin and Sir Charles Lyell.

The self-educated Croll was finally given academic recognition in 1876 when he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society, and awarded an honorary degree by the University of St Andrews.

Archives reference: OP 4/53. Frontispiece from 'An autobiographical sketch of James Croll' by James Campbell Irons, 1896