John Robison

John Robison FRSE (4 February 1739 – 30 January 1805) is a Scottish physicist and mathematician.

He was a professor of philosophy at the University of Edinburgh.

A member of the Edinburgh Philosophical Society when it receives its royal warrant, he is appointed as the first General Secretary to the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1783-98).

Robison invents the siren and also works with James Watt on an early steam car.

Following the French Revolution, Robison becomes disenchanted with elements of the Enlightenment.

He authors Proofs of a Conspiracy in 1797—a polemic accusing Freemasonry of being infiltrated by Weishaupt's Order of the Illuminati.

His son is the inventor Sir John Robison (1778-1843).

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