Scottish inventions and discoveries are objects, processes or techniques either partially or entirely invented, innovated, or discovered by a person born in or descended from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. In some cases, an invention's Scottishness is determined by the fact that it came into existence in Scotland (e.g.,

animal cloning Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, cl ...

), by non-Scots working in the country. Often, things that are discovered for the first time are also called "

inventions An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an i ...

" and in many cases there is no clear line between the two. The Scots take enormous pride in the history of Scottish invention and discovery. There are many books devoted solely to the subject, as well as scores of websites listing Scottish inventions and discoveries with varying degrees of science. Even before the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

, Scots have been at the forefront of innovation and discovery across a wide range of spheres. Some of the most significant products of Scottish ingenuity include

James Watt James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was fun ...

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

, improving on that of

Thomas Newcomen Thomas Newcomen (; February 1664 – 5 August 1729) was an English inventor who created the atmospheric engine, the first practical fuel-burning engine in 1712. He was an ironmonger by trade and a Baptist lay preacher by calling. He ...

, the

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

, macadamisation (not to be confused with

tarmac Tarmac may refer to: Engineered surfaces * Tarmacadam, a mainly historical tar-based material for macadamising road surfaces, patented in 1902 * Asphalt concrete, a macadamising material using asphalt instead of tar which has largely superseded ta ...

or tarmacadam),

Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Te ...

's invention of the first practical telephone,

John Logie Baird John Logie Baird FRSE (; 13 August 188814 June 1946) was a Scottish inventor, electrical engineer, and innovator who demonstrated the world's first live working television system on 26 January 1926. He went on to invent the first publicly demo ...

's invention of television,The World's First High Definition Colour Television System
and McLean, p. 196.

Alexander Fleming Sir Alexander Fleming (6 August 1881 – 11 March 1955) was a Scottish physician and microbiologist, best known for discovering the world's first broadly effective antibiotic substance, which he named penicillin. His discovery in 1928 of w ...

's discovery of

penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' moulds, principally '' P. chrysogenum'' and '' P. rubens''. Most penicillins in clinical use are synthesised by P. chrysogenum using ...

and

insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the ''INS'' gene. It is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism o ...

. The following is a list of inventions, innovations, or discoveries that are known or generally recognised as being Scottish.

Road transport innovations

* Macadamised roads (the basis for, but not specifically, tarmac):

John Loudon McAdam John Loudon McAdam (23 September 1756 – 26 November 1836) was a Scottish civil engineer and road-builder. He invented a new process, " macadamisation", for building roads with a smooth hard surface, using controlled materials of ...

(1756–1836) * The

pedal bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bi ...

: Attributed to both Kirkpatrick Macmillan (1813–1878) and Thomas McCall (1834–1904) * The

pneumatic tyre Pneumatics (from Greek ‘wind, breath’) is a branch of engineering that makes use of gas or pressurized air. Pneumatic systems used in industry are commonly powered by compressed air or compressed inert gases. A centrally located and ele ...

Robert William Thomson Robert William Thomson PRSSA FRSE (29 June 1822–8 March 1873), from Stonehaven, Scotland, was the inventor of the fountain pen and original inventor of the pneumatic tyre. Life He was born on 29 June 1822 in Stonehaven in the northeas ...

and

John Boyd Dunlop John Boyd Dunlop (5 February 1840 – 23 October 1921) was a Scottish-born inventor and veterinary surgeon who spent most of his career in Ireland. Familiar with making rubber devices, he invented the first practical pneumatic tyres for his c ...

(1822–1873) * The

overhead valve An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located be ...

engine:

David Dunbar Buick David Dunbar Buick (September 17, 1854 – March 5, 1929) was a Scottish-born American Detroit-based inventor, best known for founding the Buick Motor Company. He headed this company and its predecessor from 1899–1906, thereby helping to ...

(1854–1929)

Civil engineering innovations

Tubular steel Cold-formed steel (CFS) is the common term for steel products shaped by cold-working processes carried out near room temperature, such as rolling, pressing, stamping, bending, etc. Stock bars and sheets of cold-rolled steel (CRS) are common ...

: Sir

William Fairbairn Sir William Fairbairn, 1st Baronet of Ardwick (19 February 1789 – 18 August 1874) was a Scottish civil engineer, structural engineer Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems ...

(1789–1874) * The

Falkirk wheel The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift in Tamfourhill, Falkirk, in central Scotland, connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. It reconnects the two canals for the first time since the 1930s. It opened in 2002 as part o ...

: Initial designs by

Nicoll Russell Studios, Architects Nicoll Russell Studios is an architecture practice based in Dundee, Scotland. The firm was established in 1982 by Andrew Nicoll and Ric Russell as a result of the completion of Dundee Repertory Theatre. The Dundee Repertory Theatre received t ...

RMJM RMJM (Robert Matthew Johnson Marshall) is one of the largest architecture and design networks in the world. Services include architecture, development management, engineering, interior design, landscape design, lead consultancy, master planning, ...

and engineers Binnie, Black, and Veatch (Opened 2002) * The

patent slip The patent slip or marine railway is an inclined plane extending from shoreline into water, featuring a "cradle" onto which a ship is first floated, and a mechanism to haul the ship, attached to the cradle, out of the water onto a slip. The m ...

for docking vessels: Thomas Morton (1781–1832) * The

Drummond Light Limelight (also known as Drummond light or calcium light)James R. Smith (2004). ''San Francisco's Lost Landmarks'', Quill Driver Books. is a type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illumination is created whe ...

Thomas Drummond Captain Thomas Drummond (10 October 1797 – 15 April 1840), from Edinburgh was a Scottish army officer, civil engineer and senior public official. He used the Drummond light which was employed in the trigonometrical survey of Great Britain an ...

(1797–1840) *

Canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

design:

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotla ...

(1757–1834) * Dock design improvements: John Rennie (1761–1821) * Crane design improvements: James Bremner (1784–1856) * "Trac Rail Transposer", a machine to lay rail track patented in 2005, used by

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

in the United Kingdom and the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...

in the United States.

Aviation innovations

* Aircraft design:

Frank Barnwell Captain Frank Sowter Barnwell OBE AFC FRAeS BSc (23 November 1880 – 2 August 1938) was a Scottish aeronautical engineer. With his elder brother Harold, he built the first successful powered aircraft made in Scotland and later went on to a c ...

(1910) Establishing the fundamentals of aircraft design at the University of Glasgow.

Power innovations

* Condensing steam engine improvements:

(1736–1819) *

Thermodynamic cycle A thermodynamic cycle consists of a linked sequence of thermodynamic processes that involve transfer of heat and work into and out of the system, while varying pressure, temperature, and other state variables within the system, and that eventual ...

William John Macquorn Rankine William John Macquorn Rankine (; 5 July 1820 – 24 December 1872) was a Scottish mechanical engineer who also contributed to civil engineering, physics and mathematics. He was a founding contributor, with Rudolf Clausius and William Thomson ( ...

(1820–1872) * Coal-gas lighting:

William Murdoch William Murdoch (sometimes spelled Murdock) (21 August 1754 – 15 November 1839) was a Scottish engineer and inventor. Murdoch was employed by the firm of Boulton & Watt and worked for them in Cornwall, as a steam engine erector for ten yea ...

(1754–1839) * The

Stirling heat engine A Stirling engine is a heat engine that is operated by the cyclic compression and expansion of air or other gas (the ''working fluid'') between different temperatures, resulting in a net conversion of heat energy to mechanical Work (physics), wor ...

: Rev.

Robert Stirling Robert Stirling (25 October 1790 – 6 June 1878) was a Scottish clergyman and engineer. He invented the Stirling engine and was inducted into the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame in 2014. Early life Robert Stirling was born at Fatal Fiel ...

(1790–1878) *

Carbon brushes A brush or carbon brush is an electrical contact which conducts current between stationary wires and moving parts, most commonly in a rotating shaft. Typical applications include electric motors, alternators and electric generators. The lifespa ...

for

dynamo file:DynamoElectricMachinesEndViewPartlySection USP284110.png, "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator (electric), commutator. Dynamos were the f ...

s: George Forbes (1849–1936) * The Clerk cycle gas engine: Sir

Dugald Clerk Sir Dugald Clerk (sometimes written as Dugald Clark) KBE, LLD FRS (1854, Glasgow – 1932, Ewhurst, Surrey) was a Scottish engineer who designed the world's first successful two-stroke engine in 1878 and patented it in England in 1881. He wa ...

(1854–1932) * The wave-powered

electricity generator In electricity generation, a generator is a device that converts motive power (mechanical energy) or fuel-based power ( chemical energy) into electric power for use in an external circuit. Sources of mechanical energy include steam turbines, g ...

: by South African Engineer Stephen Salter in 1977 * The

Pelamis Wave Energy Converter The Pelamis Wave Energy Converter was a technology that used the motion of ocean surface waves to create electricity. The machine was made up of connected sections which flex and bend as waves pass; it is this motion which is used to generate ele ...

("red sea snake" wave energy device): Richard Yemm, 1998

Shipbuilding innovations

* Europe's first passenger steamboat: Henry Bell (1767–1830) * The first

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

–

hulled Husk (or hull) in botany is the outer shell or coating of a seed. In the United States, the term husk often refers to the leafy outer covering of an ear of maize (corn) as it grows on the plant. Literally, a husk or hull includes the protective ...

steamship: Sir

(1789–1874) * The first practical

screw propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

: Robert Wilson (1803–1882) * Marine engine innovations:

James Howden James Howden (29 February 1832 – 21 November 1913) was a Scottish engineer and inventor who is noted for his invention of the Boiler (steam generator)#Solid fuel firing, Howden forced draught system for steam boilers. Life Howden was born i ...

(1832–1913)The Dynamics of Victorian Business: Problems And Perspectives to the 1870s By Roy Church *John Elder and Charles Randolph (Marine Compound expansion engine)

Military innovations

* Lieutenant-General Sir David Henderson two areas: ** Field intelligence. Argued for the establishment of the Intelligence Corps. Wrote ''Field Intelligence: Its Principles and Practice'' (1904) and ''The Art of Reconnaissance'' (1907) on the tactical intelligence of modern warfare. *

Intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...

Allan Pinkerton Allan J. Pinkerton (August 25, 1819 – July 1, 1884) was a Scottish cooper, abolitionist, detective, and spy, best known for creating the Pinkerton National Detective Agency in the United States and his claim to have foiled a plot in 1861 to a ...

developed the still relevant intelligence techniques of "shadowing" (surveillance) and "assuming a role" (undercover work) in his time as head of the Union Intelligence Service.

Heavy industry innovations

* Coal mining extraction in the sea on an artificial island by

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

George Bruce of Carnock Sir George Bruce of Carnock (c. 1550 – 1625) was a Scottish merchant, ship-owner, and mining engineer. Family George Bruce was a son of Edward Bruce of Blairhall and Alison Reid, a sister of Robert Reid (bishop), Robert Reid, Bishop of Or ...

(1575). Regarded as one of the industrial wonders of the late medieval period. * Making

cast steel Steel casting is a specialized form of casting involving various types of steel cast to either final/net or near-net shape. Steel castings are used when iron castings cannot deliver enough strength or shock resistance.Oberg, p. 1332 Examples ...

from

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...

David Mushet David Mushet (2 October 1772 – 7 June 1847) was a Scottish engineer, known for his inventions in the field of metallurgy. Mushet was an early advocate of animal rights. Early life Mushet was born on 2 October 1772 in Dalkeith near Edin ...

(1772–1847) * Wrought iron sash bars for glass houses: John C. Loudon (1783–1865) * The hot blast oven:

James Beaumont Neilson James Beaumont Neilson (22 June 1792 – 18 January 1865) was a Scottish inventor whose hot-blast process greatly increased the efficiency of smelting iron. Life He was the son of the engineer Walter Neilson, a millwright and later engin ...

(1792–1865) * The steam hammer:

James Nasmyth James Hall Nasmyth (sometimes spelled Naesmyth, Nasmith, or Nesmyth) (19 August 1808 – 7 May 1890) was a Scottish engineer, philosopher, artist and inventor famous for his development of the steam hammer. He was the co-founder of Nasmyth, ...

(1808–1890) *

Wire rope Steel wire rope (right hand lang lay) Wire rope is several strands of metal wire twisted into a helix forming a composite ''rope'', in a pattern known as ''laid rope''. Larger diameter wire rope consists of multiple strands of such laid rope in a ...

Robert Stirling Newall Robert Stirling Newall FRS FRAS (27 May 1812 – 21 April 1889) was a Scottish engineer and astronomer. Life and work Born at Dundee on 27 May 1812, Newall began work in a local mercantile office before leaving for London, where, in the emplo ...

(1812–1889) * Steam engine improvements: William Mcnaught (1831–1881) * The Fairlie, a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

, double-

bogie A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...

railway engine A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

Robert Francis Fairlie Robert Francis Fairlie (either March 1831 or 5 April 1830, in Glasgow – 31 July 1885, in London) was a Scottish-born railway engineer. Early life Fairlie was born in Glasgow, the son of T. Archibald Fairlie (an engineer) and Margaret Fairlie ...

(1831–1885) *

Cordite Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom since 1889 to replace black powder as a military propellant. Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burni ...

- Sir James Dewar, Sir Frederick Abel (1889)

Agricultural innovations

Threshing Threshing, or thrashing, is the process of loosening the edible part of grain (or other crop) from the straw to which it is attached. It is the step in grain preparation after reaping. Threshing does not remove the bran from the grain. History ...

machine improvements:

James Meikle James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

(c.1690-c.1780) &

Andrew Meikle Andrew Meikle (5 May 1719 – 27 November 1811) was a Scottish mechanical engineer credited with inventing the threshing machine, a device used to remove the outer husks from grains of wheat. He also had a hand in assisting Firbeck in the inve ...

(1719–1811) * Hollow pipe

drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditio ...

: Sir Hew Dalrymple, Lord Drummore (1700–1753) * The Scotch plough:

James Anderson of Hermiston James Anderson FRSE FSAScot (1739 – 15 October 1808) was a Scottish agriculturist, journalist and economist. A member of the Edinburgh Philosophical Society, Anderson was a prominent figure in the Scottish Enlightenment. He invented the Sco ...

(1739–1808) * Deanstonisation soil-drainage system: James Smith (1789–1850) * The mechanical

reaping machine A reaper is a farm implement or person that reaps (cuts and often also gathers) crops at harvest when they are ripe. Usually the crop involved is a cereal grass. The first documented reaping machines were Gallic reapers that were used in R ...

: Rev.

Patrick Bell Patrick Bell (12 May 1799 – 22 April 1869) was a Church of Scotland minister and inventor. Biography Born in the rural parish of Auchterhouse in Angus, Scotland, into a farming family, Bell chose to study divinity at the University of St Andre ...

(1799–1869) * The Fresno scraper:

James Porteous James Porteous (1848–1922) was the Scottish-American inventor of the Fresno scraper. James Porteous was born in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland. His father, William Porteous, had been a wheelwright and blacksmith who built and repair ...

(1848–1922) * The Tuley tree shelter: Graham Tuley in 1979

Communication innovations

Telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

(1847-1922) * Print stereotyping:

William Ged William Ged (169919 October 1749) was a Scottish goldsmith who has been credited with the invention of stereotyping. However, he was not the first to use the process. Ged was born in Edinburgh, where he carried on business as a goldsmith. In 1725 ...

(1690–1749) * Roller printing: Thomas Bell (patented 1783) * The adhesive

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

and the

postmark A postmark is a postal marking made on an envelope, parcel, postcard or the like, indicating the place, date and time that the item was delivered into the care of a postal service, or sometimes indicating where and when received or in transit. ...

: claimed by James Chalmers (1782–1853) * The Waverley pen nib innovations thereof: Duncan Cameron (1825–1901) The popular "Waverley" was unique in design with a narrow waist and an upturned tip designed to make the ink flow more smoothly on the paper. *

Universal Standard Time Universal Time (UT or UT1) is a time standard based on Earth's rotation. While originally it was mean solar time at 0° longitude, precise measurements of the Sun are difficult. Therefore, UT1 is computed from a measure of the Earth's angle with ...

: Sir

Sandford Fleming Sir Sandford Fleming (January 7, 1827 – July 22, 1915) was a Scottish Canadian engineer and inventor. Born and raised in Scotland, he emigrated to colonial Canada at the age of 18. He promoted worldwide standard time zones, a prime meridian, ...

(1827–1915) * Light signalling between ships: Admiral

Philip H. Colomb Vice-Admiral Philip Howard Colomb, RN (29 May 1831 – 13 October 1899). Born in Knockbrex, near Gatehouse of Fleet, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, he was a Royal Navy officer, historian, critic and inventor. He was the son of General Geor ...

(1831–1899) * The underlying principles of

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and scientist responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism and ligh ...

(1831–1879) * The

Kinetoscope The Kinetoscope is an precursors of film, early motion picture exhibition device, designed for films to be viewed by one person at a time through a peephole viewer window. The Kinetoscope was not a movie projector, but it introduced the basic ...

, a motion picture camera: devised in 1889 by

William Kennedy Dickson William Kennedy Laurie Dickson (3 August 1860 – 28 September 1935) was a British people, British inventor who devised an early motion picture camera under the employment of Thomas Edison. Early life William Kennedy Dickson was born on 3 ...

(1860-1935) * The

teleprinter A teleprinter (teletypewriter, teletype or TTY) is an electromechanical device that can be used to send and receive typed messages through various communications channels, in both point-to-point and point-to-multipoint configurations. Initia ...

Frederick G. Creed Frederick George Creed (6 October 1871 – 11 December 1957) was a Canadian inventor, who spent most of his adult life in Britain. He worked in the field of telecommunications, and is particularly remembered as a key figure in the development of the ...

(1871–1957) *The

British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

(BBC):

John Reith, 1st Baron Reith John Charles Walsham Reith, 1st Baron Reith, (; 20 July 1889 – 16 June 1971), was a British broadcasting executive who established the tradition of independent public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom. In 1922, he was employed by ...

(1922) its founder, first general manager and

director-general A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...

of the British Broadcasting Corporation *

RADAR Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

: A significant contribution made by

Robert Watson-Watt Sir Robert Alexander Watson Watt (13 April 1892 – 5 December 1973) was a Scottish pioneer of radio direction finding and radar technology. Watt began his career in radio physics with a job at the Met Office, where he began looking for accura ...

(1892–1973) alongside Englishman

Henry Tizard Sir Henry Thomas Tizard (23 August 1885 – 9 October 1959) was an English chemist, inventor and Rector of Imperial College, who developed the modern "octane rating" used to classify petrol, helped develop radar in World War II, and led the fir ...

(1885-1959) and others * The

automated teller machine An automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine (in British English) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, fun ...

and

Personal Identification Number A personal identification number (PIN), or sometimes redundantly a PIN number or PIN code, is a numeric (sometimes alpha-numeric) passcode used in the process of authenticating a user accessing a system. The PIN has been the key to facilitat ...

system: James Goodfellow (born 1937)

Publishing firsts

* The first edition of the

Encyclopedia Britannica An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

(1768–81) * The first English textbook on

surgery Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

(1597) * The first modern pharmacopaedia,

William Cullen William Cullen FRS FRSE FRCPE FPSG (; 15 April 17105 February 1790) was a Scottish physician, chemist and agriculturalist, and professor at the Edinburgh Medical School. Cullen was a central figure in the Scottish Enlightenment: He was ...

(1776). The book became 'Europe's principal text on the classification and treatment of disease'. His ideas survive in the terms nervous energy and

neuroses Neurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving chronic distress, but neither delusions nor hallucinations. The term is no longer used by the professional psychiatric community in the United States, having been eliminated from th ...

(a word that Cullen coined). * The first

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...

s and picture postcards in the UK * The educational foundation of

Ophthalmology Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a medic ...

: Stewart Duke-Elder in his ground breaking work including ‘Textbook of Ophthalmology and fifteen volumes of System of Ophthalmology’

Culture and the arts

Gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...

: according to Yale University music professor Willie Ruff, the singing of psalms in

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

Presbyterians Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

of the Scottish

Hebrides The Hebrides (; gd, Innse Gall, ; non, Suðreyjar, "southern isles") are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebrid ...

evolved from "

lining out Lining out or hymn lining, called precenting the line in Scotland, is a form of a cappella hymn-singing or hymnody in which a leader, often called the clerk or precentor, gives each line of a hymn tune as it is to be sung, usually in a chanted fo ...

"—where one person sang a solo and others followed—into the

call and response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...

of gospel music of the American South. *

Scottish National Portrait Gallery The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. The gallery holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Co ...

, designed by Sir

Robert Rowand Anderson Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, (5 April 1834 – 1 June 1921) was a Scottish Victorian architect. Anderson trained in the office of George Gilbert Scott in London before setting up his own practice in Edinburgh in 1860. During the 1860s his ...

(1889): the world's first purpose-built portrait gallery. *

Ethereal wave Ethereal wave,Glasnost Wave magazine, issue # 42, p. 32/34, genre classification of the bands Trance to the Sun (''"Ghost Forest"''), This Ascension (''"Light and Shade"''), Soul Whirling Somewhere (''"Eating the Sea"''), Cocteau Tw ...

: a subgenre of

dark wave Dark wave (also typeset as darkwave) is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as be ...

music that emerged with the release of the albums '' Head over Heels'' and ''

Treasure Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions le ...

'' by Scottish band

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrum ...

. *

Shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...

: a subgenre of

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

and

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

pioneered by Scottish bands such as Cocteau Twins and

The Jesus and Mary Chain The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid. After signing to independent label Creation Records, they rele ...

. *

Future bass Future bass is a style of electronic dance music which developed in the 2010s that mixes elements of dubstep and trap with warmer, less abrasive rhythms. The genre was pioneered by producers such as Rustie, Hudson Mohawke, Lido, San Holo and ...

: a style of electronic dance music pioneered by Scottish producers such as

Rustie Rustie (born Russell Whyte) is a Scottish musician from Glasgow. He is associated with the Numbers label collective and first received attention for his 2007 EP ''Jagz the Smack''. He signed to Warp Records in 2009. His 2011 debut album '' Glas ...

and

Hudson Mohawke Ross Matthew Birchard (born 11 February 1986), better known by the stage name Hudson Mohawke, is a Scottish-American producer, composer, and DJ from Glasgow. He is known for his influential work in 21st century hip-hop and electronic music. A ...

. *

Hyperpop Hyperpop is a loosely-defined music movement and microgenre that predominantly originated in the United Kingdom during the early-to-mid 2010s. It is characterized by a maximalist or exaggerated take on popular music, and artists within the genr ...

: a

microgenre A microgenre is a specialized or niche genre. The term has been used since at least the 1970s to describe highly specific subgenres of music, literature, film, and art. In music, examples include the myriad sub-subgenres of heavy metal and electr ...

characterized by a

maximalist In the arts, maximalism, a reaction against minimalism, is an aesthetic of excess. The philosophy can be summarized as "more is more", contrasting with the minimalist motto "less is more". Literature The term ''maximalism'' is sometimes associ ...

or exaggerated take on

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

pioneered by Scottish producer Sophie.

Scientific innovations

Logarithm In mathematics, the logarithm is the inverse function to exponentiation. That means the logarithm of a number to the base is the exponent to which must be raised, to produce . For example, since , the ''logarithm base'' 10 o ...

John Napier John Napier of Merchiston (; 1 February 1550 – 4 April 1617), nicknamed Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish landowner known as a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He was the 8th Laird of Merchiston. His Latinized name was Ioann ...

(1550–1617) *

Modern Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

founded by

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——— ...

(1776) 'The father of modern economics' with the publication of

The Wealth of Nations ''An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations'', generally referred to by its shortened title ''The Wealth of Nations'', is the ''magnum opus'' of the Scottish economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith. First published in 1 ...

. *Modern Sociology:

Adam Ferguson Adam Ferguson, (Scottish Gaelic: ''Adhamh MacFhearghais''), also known as Ferguson of Raith (1 July N.S./20 June O.S. 1723 – 22 February 1816), was a Scottish philosopher and historian of the Scottish Enlightenment. Ferguson was sympathet ...

(1767) ‘The Father of Modern Sociology’ with his work

An Essay on the History of Civil Society ''An Essay on the History of Civil Society'' is a book by Scottish Enlightenment philosopher Adam Ferguson, first published in 1767. The ''Essay'' established Ferguson's reputation in Britain and throughout Europe. In the second section of the th ...

* Hypnotism: James Braid (1795–1860) the Father of Hypnotherapy * Tropical medicine: Sir Patrick Manson known as the father of Tropical MedicineManson-Bahr, Patrick (1962). Patrick Manson. The Father of Tropical Medicine. Thomas Nelson *Modern

Geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...

James Hutton James Hutton (; 3 June O.S.172614 June 1726 New Style. – 26 March 1797) was a Scottish geologist, agriculturalist, chemical manufacturer, naturalist and physician. Often referred to as the father of modern geology, he played a key role i ...

‘The Founder of Modern Geology’ * The theory of

Uniformitarianism Uniformitarianism, also known as the Doctrine of Uniformity or the Uniformitarian Principle, is the assumption that the same natural laws and processes that operate in our present-day scientific observations have always operated in the universe in ...

: James Hutton (1788): a fundamental principle of Geology the features of the geologic time takes millions of years. * The theory of

electromagnetism In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge. It is the second-strongest of the four fundamental interactions, after the strong force, and it is the dominant force in the interactions of a ...

(1831–1879) * The discovery of the Composition of Saturn's Rings

(1859): determined the rings of Saturn were composed of numerous small particles, all independently orbiting the planet. At the time it was generally thought the rings were solid. The Maxwell Ringlet and

Maxwell Gap The rings of Saturn are the most extensive ring system of any planet in the Solar System. They consist of countless small particles, ranging in size from micrometers to meters, that orbit around Saturn. The ring particles are made almost entire ...

were named in his honor. * The

Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution In physics (in particular in statistical mechanics), the Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution, or Maxwell(ian) distribution, is a particular probability distribution named after James Clerk Maxwell and Ludwig Boltzmann. It was first defined and used ...

(1860): the basis of the kinetic theory of gases, that speeds of molecules in a gas will change at different temperatures. The original theory first hypothesised by Maxwell and confirmed later in conjunction with

Ludwig Boltzmann Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann (; 20 February 1844 – 5 September 1906) was an Austrian physicist and philosopher. His greatest achievements were the development of statistical mechanics, and the statistical explanation of the second law of thermodyn ...

. * Popularising the

decimal point A decimal separator is a symbol used to separate the integer part from the fractional part of a number written in decimal form (e.g., "." in 12.45). Different countries officially designate different symbols for use as the separator. The choi ...

(1550–1617) * The first theory of the

Higgs boson The Higgs boson, sometimes called the Higgs particle, is an elementary particle in the Standard Model of particle physics produced by the quantum excitation of the Higgs field, one of the fields in particle physics theory. In the Stand ...

by English born

Peter Higgs Peter Ware Higgs (born 29 May 1929) is a British theoretical physicist, Emeritus Professor in the University of Edinburgh,Griggs, Jessica (Summer 2008The Missing Piece ''Edit'' the University of Edinburgh Alumni Magazine, p. 17 and Nobel Prize ...

particle-physics theorist at the University of Edinburgh (1964) * The Gregorian telescope: James Gregory (1638–1675) * The discovery of

Proxima Centauri Proxima Centauri is a small, low-mass star located away from the Sun in the southern constellation of Centaurus. Its Latin name means the 'nearest tarof Centaurus'. It was discovered in 1915 by Robert Innes and is the nearest-kno ...

, the closest known star to the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

, by Robert Innes (1861–1933) * One of the earliest measurements of distance to the Alpha Centauri star system, the closest such system outside of the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...

, by Thomas Henderson (1798–1844) * The discovery of

Centaurus A Centaurus A (also known as NGC 5128 or Caldwell 77) is a galaxy in the constellation of Centaurus. It was discovered in 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop from his home in Parramatta, in New South Wales, Australia. There is considerable d ...

, a well-known

starburst galaxy A starburst galaxy is one undergoing an exceptionally high rate of star formation, as compared to the long-term average rate of star formation in the galaxy or the star formation rate observed in most other galaxies. For example, the star formatio ...

in the

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

Centaurus Centaurus is a bright constellation in the southern sky. One of the largest constellations, Centaurus was included among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. ...

, by

James Dunlop James Dunlop FRSE (31 October 1793 – 22 September 1848) was a Scottish astronomer, noted for his work in Australia. He was employed by Sir Thomas Brisbane to work as astronomer's assistant at his private observatory, once located at Paramat ...

(1793–1848) * The discovery of the

Horsehead Nebula The Horsehead Nebula (also known as Barnard 33) is a small dark nebula in the constellation Orion. The nebula is located just to the south of Alnitak, the easternmost star of Orion's Belt, and is part of the much larger Orion molecular cloud co ...

in the

of Orion, by

Williamina Fleming (15 May 1857 – 21 May 1911) was a Scottish-American astronomer. She was a single mother, hired by the director of the Harvard College Observatory to help in the photographic classification of stellar spectra. She helped develop a common d ...

(1857–1911) * The world's first

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, lique ...

and a process of extracting paraffin from coal laying the foundations for the modern oil industry: James Young (1811–1883) * The identification of the minerals

yttrialite Yttrialite or Yttrialite-(Y) is a rare yttrium thorium sorosilicate mineral with formula: ( Y, Th)2 Si2 O7. It forms green to orange yellow masses with conchoidal fracture. It crystallizes in the monoclinic-prismatic crystal system. It has a Mohs h ...

, thorogummite, aguilarite and nivenite: by William Niven (1889) * The concept of

latent heat Latent heat (also known as latent energy or heat of transformation) is energy released or absorbed, by a body or a thermodynamic system, during a constant-temperature process — usually a first-order phase transition. Latent heat can be understo ...

by French-born

Joseph Black Joseph Black (16 April 1728 – 6 December 1799) was a Scottish physicist and chemist, known for his discoveries of magnesium, latent heat, specific heat, and carbon dioxide. He was Professor of Anatomy and Chemistry at the University of Glas ...

(1728–1799) * Discovering the properties of

Carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...

by French-born

(1728–1799) * The concept of

Heat capacity Heat capacity or thermal capacity is a physical property of matter, defined as the amount of heat to be supplied to an object to produce a unit change in its temperature. The SI unit of heat capacity is joule per kelvin (J/K). Heat capacity i ...

by French-born

(1728–1799) * The pyroscope,

atmometer An atmometer or evaporimeter is a scientific instrument used for measuring the rate of water evaporation from a wet surface to the atmosphere. Atmometers are mainly used by farmers and growers to measure evapotranspiration (ET) rates of crops at an ...

and

aethrioscope An aethrioscope (or æthrioscope) is a meteorological device invented by Sir John Leslie in 1818 for measuring the chilling effect of a clear sky. The name is from the Greek word for clear – ''αίθριος''. It consists of a metallic cup st ...

scientific instruments: Sir John Leslie (1766–1832) * Identifying the

nucleus Nucleus ( : nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: *Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom *Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucle ...

in living cells: Robert Brown (1773–1858) * An early form of the

Incandescent light bulb An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament heated until it glows. The filament is enclosed in a glass bulb with a vacuum or inert gas to protect the filament from oxida ...

: James Bowman Lindsay (1799-1862) *

Colloid chemistry A colloid is a mixture in which one substance consisting of microscopically dispersed insoluble particles is suspended throughout another substance. Some definitions specify that the particles must be dispersed in a liquid, while others extend ...

: Thomas Graham (1805–1869) * The

kelvin The kelvin, symbol K, is the primary unit of temperature in the International System of Units (SI), used alongside its prefixed forms and the degree Celsius. It is named after the Belfast-born and University of Glasgow-based engineer and phys ...

unit Unit may refer to: Arts and entertainment * UNIT, a fictional military organization in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' * Unit of action, a discrete piece of action (or beat) in a theatrical presentation Music * ''Unit'' (alb ...

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied o ...

by Irishman William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (1824–1907) * Devising the diagramatic system of representing

chemical bonds A chemical bond is a lasting attraction between atoms or ions that enables the formation of molecules and crystals. The bond may result from the electrostatic force between oppositely charged ions as in ionic bonds, or through the sharing of ...

Alexander Crum Brown Alexander Crum Brown FRSE FRS (26 March 1838 – 28 October 1922) was a Scottish organic chemist. Alexander Crum Brown Road in Edinburgh's King's Buildings complex is named after him. Early life and education Crum Brown was born at 4 Belle ...

(1838–1922) * Criminal

fingerprint A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfac ...

ing:

Henry Faulds Henry Faulds (1 June 1843 – 24 March 1930) was a Scottish doctor, missionary and scientist who is noted for the development of fingerprinting. Early life Faulds was born in Beith, North Ayrshire, into a family of modest means. Aged 13, he wa ...

(1843–1930) * The

noble gas The noble gases (historically also the inert gases; sometimes referred to as aerogens) make up a class of chemical elements with similar properties; under standard conditions, they are all odorless, colorless, monatomic gases with very low chemi ...

es: Sir

William Ramsay Sir William Ramsay (; 2 October 1852 – 23 July 1916) was a Scottish chemist who discovered the noble gases and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous element ...

(1852–1916) * The

cloud chamber A cloud chamber, also known as a Wilson cloud chamber, is a particle detector used for visualizing the passage of ionizing radiation. A cloud chamber consists of a sealed environment containing a supersaturated vapour of water or alcohol. ...

recording of

atom Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons. Every solid, liquid, gas, and ...

Charles Thomson Rees Wilson Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, (14 February 1869 – 15 November 1959) was a Scottish physicist and meteorologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of the cloud chamber. Education and early life Wilson was born in the parish ...

(1869–1959) * The discovery of the ''Wave of Translation'', leading to the modern general theory of

solitons In mathematics and physics, a soliton or solitary wave is a self-reinforcing wave packet that maintains its shape while it propagates at a constant velocity. Solitons are caused by a cancellation of nonlinear and dispersive effects in the mediu ...

John Scott Russell John Scott Russell FRSE FRS FRSA (9 May 1808, Parkhead, Glasgow – 8 June 1882, Ventnor, Isle of Wight) was a Scottish civil engineer, naval architect and shipbuilder who built '' Great Eastern'' in collaboration with Isambard Kingdom Brune ...

(1808-1882) *

Statistical graphics Statistical graphics, also known as statistical graphical techniques, are graphics used in the field of statistics for data visualization. Overview Whereas statistics and data analysis procedures generally yield their output in numeric or tabul ...

William Playfair William Playfair (22 September 1759 – 11 February 1823), a Scottish engineer and political economist, served as a secret agent on behalf of Great Britain during its war with France. The founder of graphical methods of statistics, Playfai ...

founder of the first statistical

line chart A line chart or line graph or curve chart is a type of chart which displays information as a series of data points called 'markers' connected by straight line segments. It is a basic type of chart common in many fields. It is similar to a s ...

bar chart A bar chart or bar graph is a chart or graph that presents categorical data with rectangular bars with heights or lengths proportional to the values that they represent. The bars can be plotted vertically or horizontally. A vertical bar chart is ...

s, and

pie chart A pie chart (or a circle chart) is a circular Statistical graphics, statistical graphic, which is divided into slices to illustrate numerical proportion. In a pie chart, the arc length of each slice (and consequently its central angle and are ...

s in (1786) and (1801) known as a scientific ‘milestone’ in statistical graphs and data visualization * The

Arithmetic mean In mathematics and statistics, the arithmetic mean ( ) or arithmetic average, or just the ''mean'' or the ''average'' (when the context is clear), is the sum of a collection of numbers divided by the count of numbers in the collection. The colle ...

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...

of the Earth:

Nevil Maskelyne Nevil Maskelyne (; 6 October 1732 – 9 February 1811) was the fifth British Astronomer Royal. He held the office from 1765 to 1811. He was the first person to scientifically measure the mass of the planet Earth. He created the ''British Nau ...

conducted the

Schiehallion experiment The Schiehallion experiment was an 18th-century experiment to determine the mean density of the Earth. Funded by a grant from the Royal Society, it was conducted in the summer of 1774 around the Scottish mountain of Schiehallion, Perthshire. Th ...

conducted at the Scottish

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

Schiehallion Schiehallion (; gd, Sìth Chailleann, ) is a prominent cone-shaped mountain in the Breadalbane region of the Scottish Highlands, in the county of Perthshire. It rises to and is classed as a Munro. Schiehallion has a rich botanical life, int ...

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

1774 *The first isolation of methylated sugars, trimethyl and tetramethyl glucose: James Irvine * Discovery of the

Japp–Klingemann reaction The Japp–Klingemann reaction is a chemical reaction used to synthesize hydrazones from β-keto-acids (or β-keto-esters) and aryl diazonium salts. The reaction is named after the chemists Francis Robert Japp and Felix Klingemann. : The hydrazo ...

: to synthesize hydrazones from β-keto-acids (or β-keto-esters) and aryl diazonium salts 1887 * Pioneering work on

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients, which can be metabolized to create energy and chemical structures. Failure to obtain sufficient n ...

and

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

John Boyd Orr John Boyd Orr, 1st Baron Boyd-Orr, (23 September 1880 – 25 June 1971), styled Sir John Boyd Orr from 1935 to 1949, was a Scottish teacher, medical doctor, biologist, nutritional physiologist, politician, businessman and farmer who was awarde ...

(1880–1971) *

Ferrocene Ferrocene is an organometallic compound with the formula . The molecule is a complex consisting of two cyclopentadienyl rings bound to a central iron atom. It is an orange solid with a camphor-like odor, that sublimes above room temperature, a ...

synthetic substances: Peter Ludwig Pauson in 1955 * The first

cloned Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, c ...

mammal (

Dolly the Sheep Dolly (5 July 1996 – 14 February 2003) was a female Finnish Dorset sheep and the first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell. She was cloned by associates of the Roslin Institute in Scotland, using the process of nuclear transfer from a ...

): Was conducted in The

Roslin Institute The Roslin Institute is an animal sciences research institute at Easter Bush, Midlothian, Scotland, part of the University of Edinburgh, and is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. It is best known for creat ...

research centre in 1996 by

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

scientists

Ian Wilmut Sir Ian Wilmut, OBE FRS -- FMedSci FRSE (born 7 July 1944) is an English embryologist and Chair of the Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He is best known as the leader of the research group that in 1996 ...

(born 1944) and Keith Campbell (1954–2012). * The

seismometer A seismometer is an instrument that responds to ground noises and shaking such as caused by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and explosions. They are usually combined with a timing device and a recording device to form a seismograph. The outpu ...

innovations thereof:

James David Forbes James David Forbes (1809–1868) was a Scottish physicist and glaciologist who worked extensively on the conduction of heat and seismology. Forbes was a resident of Edinburgh for most of his life, educated at its University and a professor ...

* Metaflex fabric innovations thereof:

University of St. Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

(2010) application of the first manufacturing fabrics that manipulate light in bending it around a subject. Before this such light manipulating atoms were fixed on flat hard surfaces. The team at St Andrews are the first to develop the concept to fabric. *

Tractor beam A tractor-beam is a device with the ability to attract one object to another from a distance. The concept originates in fiction: The term was coined by E. E. Smith (an update of his earlier "attractor-beam") in his novel ''Spacehounds of IPC'' (19 ...

innovations thereof: St. Andrews University (2013) the world's first to succeed in creating a functioning Tractor beam that pulls objects on a microscopic level *

Macaulayite Macaulayite is a red, earthy, monoclinic mineral, with the chemical formula ( Fe3+, Al)24 Si4 O43( OH)2. It was discovered in the 1970s by Jeff Wilson and named after the Macaulay Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland. The only known source of macaulay ...

: Dr. Jeff Wilson of the

Macaulay Institute The Macaulay Institute, formally the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute and sometimes referred to simply as The Macaulay, is a research institute based at Aberdeen in Scotland, which is now part of the James Hutton Institute. Its work covers ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. * Discovery of Catacol whitebeam by

Scottish Natural Heritage NatureScot ( gd, NàdarAlba), which was formerly known as Scottish Natural Heritage, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for the country's natural heritage, especially its natural, genetic and ...

and the

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

(1990s): a rare tree endemic and unique to the Isle of Arran in south west Scotland. The trees were confirmed as a distinct species by DNA testing. The first positive displacement liquid flowmeter, the reciprocating piston meter by Thomas Kennedy Snr.

Sports innovations

Scots have been instrumental in the invention and early development of several sports: *

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

Scots were prominent with many innovations in the early evolution of the game, including the establishment of the Essendon Football Club by the McCracken family from Ayrshire * Several modern

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

events, i.e.

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

Encyclopedia of sports science John Zumerchik Macmillan Library Reference USA, 1997 and the

hammer throw The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular track and field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and javelin. The "hammer" used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that name. It consis ...

, derive from Highland Games and earlier 12th century

Curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...

Gaelic handball Gaelic handball (known in Ireland simply as handball; ga, liathróid láimhe) is a sport where players hit a ball with a hand or fist against a wall in such a way as to make a shot the opposition cannot return, and that may be played with two ( ...

The modern game of handball is first recorded in Scotland in 1427, when King James I, an ardent handball player, had his men block up a cellar window in his palace courtyard that was interfering with his game. *

Cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

, invention of the pedal-cycle *

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

(see

Golf in Scotland Golf in Scotland was first recorded in the Scottish late Middle Ages, and the modern game of golf was first developed and established in the country. The game plays a key role in the national sporting consciousness. The Royal and Ancient Golf ...

) * 1848:

Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

Glasgow rules Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

(largely the sport's rules as we know them today) established at

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

.Encyclopedia of British Football by Richard Cox et al., Routledge, 2002 page 5 *

Ice Hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

, invented by the Scots regiments in Atlantic Canada by playing Shinty on frozen lakes. *

Shinty Shinty ( gd, camanachd, iomain) is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread in Scotland, an ...

The history of Shinty as a non-standardised sport pre-dates Scotland the Nation. The rules were standardised in the 19th century by Archibald Chisholm * Rugby sevens: Ned Haig and David Sanderson (1883) * The Dugout was invented by

Aberdeen FC Aberdeen Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen, Scotland. They compete in the Scottish Premiership and have never been relegated from the top division of the Scottish football league system since they were ...

Coach Donald Colman in the 1920s * The world's first Robot Olympics which took place in Glasgow in 1990.

Medical innovations

* Pioneering the use of surgical

anaesthesia Anesthesia is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical or veterinary purposes. It may include some or all of analgesia (relief from or prevention of pain), paralysis (muscle relaxation), a ...

with

Chloroform Chloroform, or trichloromethane, is an organic compound with chemical formula, formula Carbon, CHydrogen, HChlorine, Cl3 and a common organic solvent. It is a colorless, strong-smelling, dense liquid produced on a large scale as a precursor to ...

: Firstly in 1842 by

Robert Mortimer Glover Dr Robert Mortimer Glover FRSE (1815-1859) was an English physician. In 1838 he co-founded the Paris Medical Society and served as its first Vice President. He won the Medical Society of London’s Fothergill Gold Medal in 1846 for his lecture ...

then extended for use on humans by Sir

James Young Simpson Sir James Young Simpson, 1st Baronet, (7 June 1811 – 6 May 1870) was a Scottish obstetrician and a significant figure in the history of medicine. He was the first physician to demonstrate the anesthetic, anaesthetic properties of chloroform ...

(1811–1870) Initial use of chloroform in dentistry by

Francis Brodie Imlach Francis Brodie Imlach FRCSEd (1819-1891) was a Scottish pioneer of modern dentistry, and the first person to use chloroform on a dental patient. He helped to raise the profile of dentistry from a back street trade to full professional stat ...

* The

Saline drip Intravenous therapy (abbreviated as IV therapy) is a medical technique that administers fluids, medications and nutrients directly into a person's vein. The intravenous route of administration is commonly used for rehydration or to provide nutrie ...

by Dr

Thomas Latta Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

in 1831/32 * The

hypodermic syringe A syringe is a simple reciprocating pump consisting of a plunger (though in modern syringes, it is actually a piston) that fits tightly within a cylindrical tube called a barrel. The plunger can be linearly pulled and pushed along the inside o ...

: Alexander Wood (1817–1884) * First diagnostic applications of an

ultrasound scanner Ultrasound is sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hear it. This limit varies ...

: Ian Donald (1910–1987) * Independent discovery of

inoculation Inoculation is the act of implanting a pathogen or other microorganism. It may refer to methods of artificially inducing immunity against various infectious diseases, or it may be used to describe the spreading of disease, as in "self-inoculati ...

for

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

Johnnie Notions John Williamson (), more commonly known by the nickname Johnnie Notions (, ) was a self-taught physician from Shetland, Scotland, who independently developed and administered an inoculation for smallpox to thousands of patients in Shetland du ...

() *Discovery of hypnotism (November 1841): James Braid (1795–1860) *

General anaesthetic General anaesthetics (or anesthetics, see spelling differences) are often defined as compounds that induce a loss of consciousness in humans or loss of righting reflex in animals. Clinical definitions are also extended to include an induced coma ...

: Pioneered by Scotsman

and Englishman

John Snow John Snow (15 March 1813 – 16 June 1858) was an English physician and a leader in the development of anaesthesia and medical hygiene. He is considered one of the founders of modern epidemiology, in part because of his work in tracing the so ...

*Identifying the

mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...

as the carrier of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

: Sir

Ronald Ross Sir Ronald Ross (13 May 1857 – 16 September 1932) was a British medical doctor who received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on the transmission of malaria, becoming the first British Nobel laureate, and the f ...

(1857–1932) * Identifying the cause of

brucellosis Brucellosis is a highly contagious zoonosis caused by ingestion of unpasteurized milk or undercooked meat from infected animals, or close contact with their secretions. It is also known as undulant fever, Malta fever, and Mediterranean fever. The ...

: Sir David Bruce (1855–1931) * Discovering the vaccine for

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

fever: Sir William B. Leishman (1865–1926) * Electrocardiography: Alexander Muirhead (1869) * Discovery of Staphylococcus: Sir Alexander Ogston (1880) * Discovering

: John J R Macleod (1876–1935) with others The discovery led him to be awarded the 1923 Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nobel prize in Medicine. * Penicillin: Sir

(1881–1955) * Pioneering of X-ray cinematography: John Macintyre (1896); the first moving real time X-ray image and the first KUB X-ray diagnostic image of a kidney stone in situ * Establishment of standardized

: Stewart Duke-Elder, Sir Stewart Duke-Elder, a pioneering Ophthalmologist in the 1930-50s * The first hospital Radiation therapy unit: John Macintyre (1902); to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of injuries and illness at Glasgow Royal Infirmary *The ''Haldane effect'', a property of hemoglobin: First described by John Scott Haldane (1907) * The first Decompression tables: John Scott Haldane (1908); to calculate the safe return of deep-sea divers to surface atmospheric pressure * Oxygen therapy: John Scott Haldane (1922), with the publication of ‘The Therapeutic Administration of Oxygen Therapy’, beginning the modern era of Oxygen therapy * Transplant rejection: Professor Thomas Gibson (1940s) the first medical doctor to understand the relationship between donor graft tissue and host tissue rejection and tissue transplantation by his work on aviation burns victims during World War II * Discovering an effective tuberculosis treatment: Sir John Crofton in the 1950s * Developing the first beta-blocker drugs: Sir James W. Black in 1964; revolutionized the medical management of angina pectoris, angina and is considered to be one of the most important contributions to clinical medicine and pharmacology of the 20th century. In 1988 Black was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine. * Developing modern asthma therapy based both on bronchodilation (salbutamol) and anti-inflammatory steroids (beclomethasone dipropionate): Sir David Jack (1972) * Chainsaw invented by surgeons John Aitken and James Jeffray for widening the birth canal during difficult childbirth * Glasgow coma scale: Graham Teasdale (physician), Graham Teasdale and Bryan J. Jennett (1974) * Glasgow Outcome Scale: Bryan J. Jennett & Michael Bond (physician), Sir Michael Bond (1975): diagnostic tool for patients with brain injuries, such as cerebral traumas * Discovering and developing the anesthetic drug Propofol: Dr. John B. Glen (1977); a globally-used surgical anesthetic common in general surgery cases. In 2018 Dr. Glen received a Lasker Award. * Glasgow Anxiety Scale: J.Mindham and C.A Espie (2003) * Glasgow Depression Scale: Fiona Cuthill (2003); the first accurate self-report scale to measure the levels of depression in people with learning disabilities * Discovering the Human papillomavirus vaccine: Ian Frazer (2006); the second cancer preventing vaccine, and the world's first vaccine designed to prevent a cancer * Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS): Strathclyde University (2014); a laser and nanoparticle test to detect bacterial meningitis, Meningitis or multiple pathogenic agents at the same time.

Household innovations

* The television:

(1923) * The refrigerator:

(1748) * The flush toilet: Alexander Cumming (1775) * The vacuum flask: Sir James Dewar (1847–1932) * The first distiller to triple distill Irish whiskey:John Jameson (Whisky distiller) * The piano footpedal: John Broadwood (1732–1812) * The first automated can-filling machine John West (captain), John West (1809–1888) * The waterproof macintosh: Charles Macintosh (1766–1843) * The kaleidoscope: Sir David Brewster (1781–1868) * Keiller's marmalade Janet Keiller (1797) - The first recipe of rind suspended marmalade or Dundee marmalade produced in Dundee. * The modern lawnmower: Alexander Shanks (1801–1845) * The Match#Friction matches, Lucifer friction match: Sir Sir Isaac Holden, 1st Baronet, Isaac Holden (1807–1897) * The self filling pen: Robert William Thomson, Robert Thomson (1822–1873) * Cotton-reel Yarn, thread: J & J Clark of Paisley, Renfrewshire, Paisley * Lime cordial: Rose's lime juice, Lauchlan Rose in 1867 * Bovril beef extract: John Lawson Johnston in 1874 * The electric clock: Alexander Bain (inventor), Alexander Bain (1840) * Chemical Telegraph (Automatic Telegraphy) Alexander Bain (inventor), Alexander Bain (1846) In England Bain's telegraph was used on the wires of the Electric Telegraph Company to a limited extent, and in 1850 it was used in America. * Barr's Irn-Bru, soft drink produced by Barr's in Cumbernauld Scotland and exported all around the world. The drink is so widely popular in Scotland that it outsells both American colas Coca-Cola and Pepsi and ranks 3rd most popular drink in the UK with Coca-Cola and Pepsi taking the first two spots.

Weapons innovations

* The carronade cannon: Robert Melville (1723–1809) * The Ferguson rifle: Patrick Ferguson in 1770 * The Lee bolt system as used in the Lee–Metford and Lee–Enfield series rifles: James Paris Lee * The Ghillie suit pioneered by the Lovat Scouts * The percussion cap: invented by Scottish Presbyterian clergyman Alexander Forsyth

Miscellaneous innovations

* Boys' Brigade: William Alexander Smith (Boys' Brigade), Sir William Alexander Smith * Bank of England devised by William Paterson (banker), William Paterson * Bank of France devised by John Law (economist), John Law * Grand Theft Auto: developed by Scottish game developers DMA Design (later known as Rockstar North) *The industrialisation and modernisation of Japan by Thomas Blake Glover * Colour photography: the first known permanent colour photograph was taken by

(1831–1879) * Buick, Buick Motor Company by

Scots Who Made America by Rick Wilson * ''New York Herald'' newspaper by James Gordon Bennett, Sr. *Pinkerton National Detective Agency by

* ''Forbes'' magazine by B. C. Forbes * Fried chicken: the origin of fried chicken in the southern states of America has been traced to precedents in Scottish cuisine. * The establishment of a standardized botanical institute: Isaac Bayley Balfour * London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine: founded by Sir Patrick Manson in 1899

References

Visit Scotland - Scottish Inventions

Publications

*Great Scottish Discoveries and Inventions, Bill Fletcher, William W. Fletcher, John Harrold, Drew, 1985, University of California, , *Great Scottish inventions and discoveries: a concise guide : a selection of Scottish inventions and discoveries made over a period stretching back to the fifteenth century, John Geddes, Northern Books, 1994 *Scottish Inventors, Alistair Fyfe, HarperCollins, 1999, , *The Scottish invention of America, democracy and human rights: a history of liberty and freedom from the ancient Celts to the New Millennium, Alexander Leslie Klieforth, Robert John Munro, University Press of America, 2004, , *Philosophical chemistry in the Scottish enlightenment: the doctrines and discoveries of William Cullen and Joseph Black, Arthur L. Donovan

External links

Top Twenty Scottish Inventions
15th International World Wide Web Conference, Edinburgh, 2006

Global Friends of Scotland (a Scottish Executive website)
Scottish Inventors and their Inventions
Kenmay Academy {{DEFAULTSORT:Scottish Inventions And Discoveries Scottish inventions, Scottish history-related lists, Inventions Lists of inventions or discoveries

Road transport innovations

Civil engineering innovations

Aviation innovations

Power innovations

Shipbuilding innovations

Military innovations

Heavy industry innovations

Agricultural innovations

Communication innovations

Publishing firsts

Culture and the arts

Scientific innovations

Sports innovations

Medical innovations

Household innovations

Weapons innovations

Miscellaneous innovations

See also

References

Publications

External links