So what's Brian up to these days?

In case you've been wondering what kind of work my studies have me doing lately, here is your answer:


You are looking at GUL MS GEN 116 p. 62, which is shorthand for Glasgow University Library manuscript (general collection) number 116, page 62. It's just one of hundreds of pages of manuscripts that I'll be working with over the next few months.

The Scottish philosopher Thomas Reid, who is the subject of my research, taught for a time at Glasgow University. His notes for many of his lectures have been lost, including the natural theology lectures that are a focus of my study. However, we know of five different sets of student notes of the natural theology lectures, each taken by students who were in the classroom as he was teaching. Part of my work is attempting to recreate Reid's natural theology lectures using these student notes. I have two of the five sets and still need to acquire the other three.

All the manuscripts I have so far are on microfilm. Microfilm is, of course, difficult to work with as you have to be at a reading machine in order to use it. But technology is amazing: I am able to digitize all the manuscripts, which enables me to view them on any computer.

Once I digitize the manuscripts, I have to transcribe them. What does this page say, you ask?

"Lecture XII, Nov'r 3d:
Of all these different Hypothesis these different parts seem to want evidence and therefore this Hypothesis must fall to the ground. With regard to the first we have no evidence at all our conceptions do not go on it - this manner we have no consciousness that the soul is situated in the Brain being an immaterial substance we cannot tell where it is situated, nor does our conscioussness give us the smallest information. With regard to the second that the Images of things come into the mind by means of being communicated to the brain by the organs of sense. This is evidently an Hypothesis Anatomists have transacted to the Brain times inumerall and no such Images of likeness of external objects have been joined in the brain so a drawing may be an Image of a house yet to say that this Image of the house is perceived by the mind in the brain this is absurd, but if we were to admit this, there are words which can not have any Images such as sound, & yet our . . ."