Alexander Bruce, 2nd Earl of Kincardine

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Alexander Bruce (1629–1680) ( Johannes Mijtens , 1660–1670)

Alexander Bruce, 2nd Earl of Kincardine FRS (* 1629 - † July 9, 1680 ) was a Scottish inventor, nobleman and politician. The Freemason was a founding member of the Royal Society .

Life

His grandfather was Sir George Bruce , who had gotten rich from trading coal and salt and had Culross Palace built in Fife in 1597 . His parents were George Bruce and his wife Mary nee. Preston. In 1659 he married Veronica van Aerssen, a sister of François Cornelis van Aerssen van Sommelsdijk . Their children were Mary, Anne, Elizabeth, Charles and Alexander . Alexander Bruce was interested in science and developed a pendulum clock in collaboration with Christiaan Huygens . In 1662 he inherited the title of Earl of Kincardine from his older brother Edward . On July 20, 1667 he is mentioned as Treasurer of Scotland . In the same year he was appointed Extraordinary Lord of Session of the Scottish Court of Session , a position he held until his death. He was also the Scottish Privy Counselor (PC) between 1674 and 1676. Bruce was one of the 12 founders of the Royal Society in 1660 and maintained intensive correspondence with its President Robert Moray , who, like him, was a Freemason .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Boswell in Holland, 1763-1764, including his correspondence with Belle de Zuylen (ZeÌlide), p. 51.
  2. Michael S. Mahoney: The first marine pendulum emerged from the collaboration of Huygens and the Scot Alexander Bruce during November and December 1662 ( english ) In: Christian Huygens: The Measurement of Time and of Longitude at Sea . Princeton University. 1980. Retrieved March 9, 2010.
  3. ^ AJ Youngson: Alexander Bruce, FRS, Second Earl of Kincardine (1629-1681) . In: The Royal Society (Ed.): Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London . 15, 1960, pp. 251-258. doi : 10.1098 / rsnr.1960.0024 .