James Burnett, Lord Monboddo, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

James Burnett, Lord Monboddo

Scottish judge, scholar of language evolution and philosopher

Date of Birth: 25-Oct-1714

Place of Birth: Kincardineshire, Scotland, United Kingdom

Date of Death: 26-May-1799

Profession: judge, anthropologist, philosopher, linguist

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

James Burnett, Lord Monboddo (baptised 25 October 1714; died 26 May 1799), was a Scottish judge, scholar of linguistic evolution, philosopher and deist.
He is most famous today as a founder of modern comparative historical linguistics.
In 1767 he became a judge in the Court of Session. As such, Burnett adopted an honorary title based on the name of his father's estate and family seat, Monboddo House.
Monboddo was one of a number of scholars involved at the time in development of early concepts of biological evolution.
Some credit him with anticipating in principle the idea of natural selection that was read by (and acknowledged in the writings of) Erasmus Darwin.
Charles Darwin read the works of his grandfather Erasmus and later developed the ideas into a scientific theory.