Charles Withers

Charles W. J. Withers FBA FRSE is Professor Emeritus and former Ogilvie Chair of Geography at the University of Edinburgh. Between 2015 and 2022 he was Geographer Royal for Scotland, the first for 118 years. His books include Geography, Science and National Identity: Scotland since 1520 (2001), Placing the Enlightenment: Thinking Geographically about the Age of Reason (2007), Zero Degrees: Geographies of the Prime Meridian (2017), Majestic River: Mungo Park and the Exploration of the Niger (2022) and, as co-author, the prize-winning Scotland: Mapping the Nation (2011). He is currently completing research on British-Hungarian geography and geographers in World War One (with Robert Gyori of Eotvos Lorands University, Budapest) and undertaking a study of the map-maker Alexander Keith Johnston (1804-1871).