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" Off all the small nations of this earth, perhaps only the
ancient Greeks surpass the Scots in their contribution to mankind.
"
The
quote above is from a speech given by Winston Churchill. Was his
statement accurate ? Well, it is not as "daft" as it
sounds since the wee country of Scotland has produced an incredible
array of deep thinkers, great writers/poets, innovative scientists,
engineers, pioneers, explorers, missionaries and physicians.
Only
a few are shown below.
Scottish
Philosophers
French
philosopher and writer, Voltaire, once noted that, "We look
to Scotland for all our ideas of civilization. Scottish
Philosophers had an extensive influence on European thought during
the 18th and 19th centuries. The 18th century was an age when
almost every aspect of mankind's existence - philosophy, economics,
art, law, architecture, medicine, engineering - was studied and
questioned. It was also a time when Scotland's cities were "hotbeds
of genius", and Scotsmen such as the philosopher David Hume,
the economist Adam Smith, the chemist James Black, and the geologist
James Hutton developed their ideas and successfully challenged
the beliefs of the past. The Scottish Enlightenment stretched
roughly from 1740 to 1790.
David Hume
James
Burnett
William
Robertson
Adam
Smith
Scottish
Scientists and Engineers
Scots
are famous for their ingenuity and their entrepreneurial flair.
With a strong accent on scientific research, Scots have produced
some of the most important inventions in history, including: the
steam engine (James Watt), the telephone (Alexander Graham Bell),
penicillin (Alexander Fleming), Fax transmission (Alexander Bain),
Radar (Sir Robert Watson-Watt and Magnetic resonance imaging (John
Mallard). Today that tradition continues with groundbreaking developments
in a range of hi-tech sectors, including: biotechnology (cloning
The Roslin Institute), software (First computer strategy
game Lemmings David Jones) and healthcare (beta-blockers
Nobel Laureate Sir James W. Black).
James
Gregory
Joseph
Black
James
Watt
William
Symington
Henry
Bell
William
Murdoch
John
Loudon McAdam
Thomas
Telford
John
Boyd Dunlop
Thomas
Graham
David
Dale
John
Anderson
James
Nasmyth
Charles
Macintosh
Sir
David Brewster
Lord
Kelvin
James
Clerk Maxwell
Alexander
Graham Bell
Alexander
Bain
John
Logie Baird
Sir
Robert Watson-Watt
Charles
T.R. Wilson
Scots
in North America
Scots
have played a major part in the development of North America.
Sixty-one percent of US Presidents have had Scottish origins.
Nine of the thirteen governors of the newly created United States
of America were Scots.
So many important Americans and Canadians have had Scottish ancestry
that it would be well nigh impossible to cover them all on this
web page. Here's a few:
Lt.
Governor Robert Dinwiddie
Rev.
John Witherspoon
James
Wilson
John
Paul Jones
Andrew
Carnegie
Allan
Pinkerton
John
Muir
James
Wilson
Sir
Alexander Mackenzie
The
Right Honourable Alexander Mackenzie
William
Lyon Mackenzie
Donald
Alexander Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona
Sir
Sanford Fleming
Scottish
Writers
Scots
have produced a vast body of literature and prose. Here is a but
a few of Scotland's great writers.
Robert
Burns
James
Macpherson
Sir
Walter Scott
Thomas
Carlyle
Robert
Louis Stevenson
Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir
James Barrie
John
Buchan
Hugh
MacDiarmid
J.K.
Rowling
Scottish
Explorers and Pioneers in their field
Scots
have long been driven by an innate curiousity for distant lands
and life's mysteries. Their stories as are varied as the landscapes
they explored.
James
Ramsay
James
Bruce of Kinnaird
Mungo
Park
David
Livingstone
Mary
Slessor
Thomas
Blake Glover
Alexander
Duff
Patrick
Geddes
Charles
Rennie Mackintosh
Scottish
Physicians
Scottish
physicians, past and present, are famed all over the world for
their contributions to the progress of the healing arts. It is
a history of pioneering to be proud of.
John
Arbuthnot
William
Smellie
James
Lind
William
Hunter
John
Hunter
Matthew
Baillie
James
Braid
Sir
James Young Simpson
Sir
William Macewen
John
Boyd Orr
Elsie
Inglis
Marie
Stopes
John
Glaister
Sir
Alexander Fleming
R.D.
Laing
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