History of universities in Scotland perhaps the first of their kind in the world. His students founded practical chemistry at Aberdeen soon after. William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin was appointed to the chair of natural philosophy at Glasgow aged only 22. His work included the mathematical analysis of electricity and formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics. By 1870 Kelvin and Rankine had made Glasgow the leading centre of science and engineering education and investigation in Britain. At Edinburgh, major figures included David Brewster (1781–1868), who made contributions to the science of optics and to the development of photography. Fleeming Jenkin (1833–85) was
Diseases and epidemics of the 19th century 19th century. It is most prevalent in tropical-like climates, but the United States was not exempted from the fever. New Orleans was plagued with major epidemics during the 19th century, most notably in 1833 and 1853. At least 25 major outbreaks took place in the Americas during the 18th and 19th centuries, including particularly serious ones in Santo Domingo in 1803 and Memphis in 1878. Major outbreaks occurred repeatedly in Gibraltar; outbreaks in 1804, 1814, and again in 1828. Barcelona suffered the loss of several thousand citizens during an outbreak in 1821. Urban epidemics continued in the United States until