36 Great Scots
ROSEANNA CUNNINGHAM:
The first Scottish Member of Parliment to have her own personal Web Site !
"Quine is a non-profit site which endeavours to provide a space in which it is possible to highlight the activities, interests and concerns of Scottish women in all walks of life."
ROTARY STEREO PRESSES:
Thomas Nelson of Glasgow invented the rotary stereo press.
MODERN GEOLOGY:
Charles Lyell - father of modern geology and James Hutton - grandfather of modern geology. An interesting fact is that Hutton died in 1797, the same year that Lyell was born.
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA:
The first edition of Encyclopedia Britannica was published in Edinburgh in 1771.
PENICILLIN:
Discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming.
BAILEY BRIDGES:
Invented during the 39/45 war by Sir Donald Bailey.
PNEUMATIC TYRES:
The first practicable pneumatic tyre was invented in 1888 by J.B.Dunlop, who came from the village of Dreghorn in Ayrshire.
WATERPROOF FABRICS:
The first practical waterproof fabrics were produced in 1891 by Charles MacKintosh, a Glasgow chemist. His name is now perpetuated in the mackintosh coat.
BLEACHING POWDER:
Also invented by Charles MacKintosh.
ARTIFICIAL ICE:
Sir John Leslie made the first artificial ice in Edinburgh in 1810.
PARAFFIN OIL:
James Young of Glasgow took out a patent in 1850 for producing paraffin oil from bituminous coal.
STEAMSHIPS:
The first trial of a steam-driven boat was carried out successfully on Dalswinton Loch, near the river Nith, by Patrick Miller in 1788. The first steam-boat to be used for practical purposes was the Charlotte Dundas, built by William Symington, which attained the speed of seven miles an hour, but was deemed to dangerous. Later, Henry Bell built Europe's first passenger steamship.
IRON SHIPS:
Sir William Fairbairn of Kelso built iron ships in 1850 at Millwall, London.
U.S. NAVY:
The American Navy was created by a Scot, Paul Jones.
THE BANK OF FRANCE:
John Law of Lauriston founded the Bank of France.
TELEVISION:
The first television system was invented by J.L. Baird, who was born in Helenburgh in 1889.
CHLOROFORM:
Sir James Y. Simpson, born in Bathgate in 1811, was the first doctor to use chloroform in surgery and developed the use of anaesethics.
LOGARITHMS:
The theory of logarithms was the work of John Napier of Merchiston.
STEAM ENGINES:
James Watt, who was born in Greenock in 1736, invented the first really practical steam engine on modern principles in 1769, and prepared the way for the great industrial revolution.
GAS LIGHTS:
William Murdoch of Old Cumnock poineered the use of gaslight in 1802, when he illuminated a works in Birmingham with coal gas. He also invented the first reciprocating steam engine for practical marine use.
BICYCLES:
The credit for the invention of the bicycle has been given to two Scots - Gavin Dalziel of Lesmahagow, in 1836, and Kirpatrick MacMillan, a Dumfriesshire blacksmith.
HOT BLAST FURNANCES:
The hot blast furnace method of treating iron, which revolutionised the British iron industry, was invented by John Neilson, manager of the Glasgow Gas Works.
ELECTRIC LAMPS:
In 1834, James Bowman Lindsay, of Dundee, lit his home electric lamps.
GRAMAPHONES:
Although an American, Thomas Edison, improved the gramaphone and made it a commercial possibility, it's prototype, the phonautograph was invented by Leo Scott, in 1856.
INCANDESCANT LAMPS:
Joseph Wilson Swan, of Glasgow, patented the first carbon incandescent lamp in 1878.
TELEPHONES:
Alexander Graham Bell, the man who first patented the telephone in 1876, was born in Edinburgh in 1847, although he carried out most of his experiments in Canada.
THE BANK OF ENGLAND:
William Paterson, who was born on a farm at Tinwald, Dumfriesshire, in the year 1658, founded the Bank of England in 1694.
SAVINGS BANK:
Britain's first Savings Bank was started by the Reverend D. Henry Duncan of Dumfriesshire in 1810.
POLITICAL ECONOMY:
The first man to evolve a British political economy was Adam Smith of Kirkcaldy, who wrote The Wealth of Nations in 1776.
THRESHING MACHINES:
The first threshing machine was invented by Andrew Meikle.
REAPING MACHINES:
The first practical reaper was invented in 1827 by the Reverend Patrick Bell of Carmyllie.
SWING PLOUGHS:
John Small, a Dalkeith farmer, invented the swing plough in 1750.
CIRCULATING LIBRARIES:
The first circulating library was established in Edinburgh by Allan Ramsay.
RADIOLOCATION:
Invented by Sir Alexander Watson Watt.
GOLF:
First played in Scotland, but the man to blame for it is unknown.
MAGNESIA:
Joseph Black (1728-99), the famous scientist who was educated at Glasgow University, discovered magnesia.
LATENT HEAT:
The theory of latent heat was first revealed by Joseph Black.
HIGHROADS:
John Loudon Macadam, born in Ayr, in 1756, invented the method of waterproofing a road surface that is known today as macadamising.
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As mists of the evening creep over the hill
And the sea round about her is silent and still
Forbidden dark island so dreary and cold
What mysterious tales can your black rocks unfold
While fishermen row past your dark ocean shore
And old wives are spinning and praying once more
No falsehood to dread no malice you hold
You are sworn to your secrets of stories untold
The old men will tell not a bird or a nest
At times not a seabird will stop there to rest
But you lie there in mist and cold watery waves
No harm is yet spoken no evil you show
Tis sacred you stand to folks long ago
No curses come from you or to you are shown
Just a lonely dark island a mysterious throne
But tho' they've not seen they'll tell what they know
Of kings and of princes who died long ago
Who rest in your coves and still to this day
They are seen in your shadows and thru the sea spray
So toast to yon mountains and summits of blue
And here's to the glens and the meadows of dew
It's not of these hills or valleys I dream
But the lonely dark island the home of the kings
Druid Princess
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