Robert Scott Burn

Robert Scott Burn (14 February 1825 – 31 January 1901) was a Scottish engineer and author, known as prolific writer between 1850 and 1860 on a wide range of subjects ranging from agriculture, building construction and mechanical engineering to architectural and technical drawing.

Born at Lauder in the Scottish Borders, Burn received his education as engineer as apprentice at Watson, Ross and Co. in Edinburgh, who were working as agricultural and brewing engineers. After working at the Main Point Foundry in Edinburgh, he visited the United States. Back in the United Kingdom he settled in as consulting agricultural engineer.

Late 1840s Burn came into prominence with some technical innovations. He developed an improved roller gin, used in separating the seed from cotton, and made some improvements to steam engines. In the 1850s Burn he stated writing and edited a series of books on engineer and drawing, starting with Practical ventilation as applied to public, domestic, and agricultural structures, in 1850. Main works he further edited, were The Illustrated Drawing Book and Practical Geometry in 1853, The steam engine; its history and mechanism in 1854. Burn moved to Castle Farm in Cheshire.

Late 1850s Burn also started writing for the Journal of Agriculture. He visited Belgium and Holland on three occasions, in 1859, 1860, and 1862, where he examined the peculiarities of the agriculture of the country. He published his findings in the 1862 Notes of an Agricultural Tour in Belgium, Holland, & the Rhine, and later wrote more works in the field of agriculture. He was a proponent of the idea of a "great extension of small farms in England as a means of improving our agriculture or the well-being of our population."

Burn continued to write on the wide ranging from agriculture, building construction and mechanical engineering to architectural and technical drawing. He specialised in both in textbooks for students, and in "instructions for self-teaching of artistic and mechanical subjects." Some of his works were translated into German, and one drawing manual was even translated into Japanese. His The Illustrated Drawing Book was translated in Japanese, entitled Seiga Shinan [Guide to Western Pictures] (1871), was even the first drawing textbook in Japan.

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