Joseph Black Building

Until I blipped the  Sylvan House in July and read the plaque on the South wall I had never heard of Joseph Black. Then, as often happens, the name cropped up in several different places.

Among the books we found when clearing Mr Flum's mother's house was one entitled Scottish Men of Science which includes, as one would expect, Joseph Black.

According to the plaque beside this entrance, Joseph Black graduated M.D. in 1754, was Professor of Chemistry in Edinburgh from 1766-1799 and is known for his discovery of carbon dioxide ('fixed air').

The University of Edinburgh Chemistry Department was the first building in the new campus known as the King's Buildings. The foundation stone was laid by King George V in 1920 to a design by architects Rowand Anderson & Balfour Paul with sculptural motifs by Alexander Carrick. It is now grade B listed.

This is where my father-in-law worked for many years as a Senior Lecturer but we only discovered in August that it has been named the Joseph Black Building.