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Robert Kerr FRS (1755 – October 11, 1813) was a scientific writer
Writer

A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, as well as those who have written in many different forms....
 and translator from Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
.

Kerr was born in Roxburghshire
Roxburghshire

Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh is a registration county of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire to the north-west, and Berwickshire to the north....
 as the son of a jeweller. He studied medicine
Medicine

Medicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
 at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh founded in 1582, is an internationally renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom....
 and practised at the Edinburgh Foundling Hospital as a surgeon
Surgery

Surgery is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, to help improve bodily function or appearance, or sometimes for some other reason....
. He translated several scientific works into English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
, such as Antoine Lavoisier
Antoine Lavoisier

Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier , the Fathers_of_scientific_fields#Chemistry, was a French people noble prominent in the histories of chemistry and biology....
's Traitée Elémentaire de Chimie in 1789. In 1792, he published The Animal Kingdom, the first two volumes of a four-tome translation of Linnaeus'
Carolus Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus was a Sweden botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern alpha taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology....
 Systema Naturae
Systema Naturae

The book Systema Naturae was one of the major works of the Sweden botanist, zoologist and physician Carolus Linnaeus. Its full title is Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis or translated: "System of nature through the three kingdoms of...
, which is often cited as the taxonomic authority for a great many species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
.






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Robert Kerr FRS (1755 – October 11, 1813) was a scientific writer
Writer

A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, as well as those who have written in many different forms....
 and translator from Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
.

Kerr was born in Roxburghshire
Roxburghshire

Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh is a registration county of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire to the north-west, and Berwickshire to the north....
 as the son of a jeweller. He studied medicine
Medicine

Medicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
 at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh founded in 1582, is an internationally renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom....
 and practised at the Edinburgh Foundling Hospital as a surgeon
Surgery

Surgery is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, to help improve bodily function or appearance, or sometimes for some other reason....
. He translated several scientific works into English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
, such as Antoine Lavoisier
Antoine Lavoisier

Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier , the Fathers_of_scientific_fields#Chemistry, was a French people noble prominent in the histories of chemistry and biology....
's Traitée Elémentaire de Chimie in 1789. In 1792, he published The Animal Kingdom, the first two volumes of a four-tome translation of Linnaeus'
Carolus Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus was a Sweden botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern alpha taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology....
 Systema Naturae
Systema Naturae

The book Systema Naturae was one of the major works of the Sweden botanist, zoologist and physician Carolus Linnaeus. Its full title is Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis or translated: "System of nature through the three kingdoms of...
, which is often cited as the taxonomic authority for a great many species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
. (He never did the remaining two volumes.)

In 1794 he left his post as a surgeon to manage a paper mill. He lost much of his fortune with this enterprise. Out of economical necessity he began writing again in 1809, publishing a variety of minor works, for instance a General View of the Agriculture of Berwickshire. His last work was a translation of Cuvier's
Georges Cuvier

Baron Georges L?opold Chr?tien Fr?d?ric Dagobert Cuvier was a France natural history and zoology. He was the elder brother of Fr?d?ric Cuvier , also a naturalist....
 Recherches sur les ossements fossiles de quadrupedes, which was published after Kerr's death under the title "Essays on the Theory of the Earth".

His other works included a massive historical study entitled A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels in eighteen volumes. Kerr began the series in 1811, dedicating it to Sir Alexander Cochrane
Alexander Cochrane

Admiral Sir Alexander Forrester Inglis Cochrane Order of the Bath Royal Navy was a senior Royal Navy commander during the Napoleonic Wars....
, K.B., Vice-Admiral of the White. Publication did not cease following Kerr's death in 1813; the latter volumes were published into the 1820s.

Selected writings


( The link is to volume 4.)

( The link is to volume 16.)

( The link is to volume 9.)

Further reading


- The introduction by Douglas McKie has information on Robert Kerr, the book's translator.

External links


  • of the "Essays on the Theory of the Earth"
  • - Links to A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels
  • from ElectricScotland.com.