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. In some cases, an invention's Scottishness is determined by the fact that it came into existence in Scotland (e.g., animal cloning), by non-Scots working in the country. Often, things that are discovered for the first time are also called "inventions" and in many cases there is no clear line between the two.
Some Scottish contributions have indirectly and directly led to controversial political ideas and policies, such as the measures taken to enforce British hegemony in the time of the British Empire.[2] 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.[not verified in body]
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.[36]
Intelligence: Allan Pinkerton 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 SirGeorge Bruce of Carnock (1575). Regarded as one of the industrial wonders of the late medieval period.[37]
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.[56]
The first modern pharmacopaedia, William Cullen (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 (a word that Cullen coined).[67]
The first postcards and picture postcards in the UK[68]
The educational foundation of Ophthalmology: Stewart Duke-Elder in his ground breaking work including ‘Textbook of Ophthalmology and fifteen volumes of System of Ophthalmology’[69]
Dean George Berkeley and His Entourage, a portrait painted by Scottish-born John Smibert that became one of the most influential New England paintings[72]
The theory of Uniformitarianism: James Hutton (1788): a fundamental principle of Geology the features of the geologic time takes millions of years.[83]
The discovery of the Composition of Saturn's Rings James Clerk Maxwell (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 were named in his honor.[85]
The Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution by James Clerk Maxwell (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.[86]
The world's first oil refinery and a process of extracting paraffin from coal laying the foundations for the modern oil industry: James Young (1811–1883)[95]
The identification of the minerals yttrialite, thorogummite, aguilarite and nivenite: by William Niven (1889)[96]
Metaflex fabric innovations thereof: University of St. Andrews (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.[119]
Tractor beam 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[120][121]
Scots have been instrumental in the invention and early development of several sports:
Australian rules football 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[125][126][127]
Gaelic handball 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.[130]
Ice Hockey, invented by the Scots regiments in Atlantic Canada by playing Shinty on frozen lakes.
Shinty 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[132]
The first hospital Radiation therapy unit: John Macintyre (1902); to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of injuries and illness at Glasgow Royal Infirmary[147]
Oxygen therapy: John Scott Haldane (1922), with the publication of ‘The Therapeutic Administration of Oxygen Therapy’, beginning the modern era of Oxygen therapy[152]
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[153]
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[158]
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.[161]
Glasgow Anxiety Scale: J.Mindham and C.A Espie (2003)[162]
Glasgow Depression Scale: Fiona Cuthill (2003); the first accurate self-report scale to measure the levels of depression in people with learning disabilities[163]
Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS): Strathclyde University (2014); a laser and nanoparticle test to detect Meningitis or multiple pathogenic agents at the same time.[165]
Chemical Telegraph (Automatic Telegraphy) 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.[180]
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.[181]
^Pelfrey, William (2006). Billy, Alfred, and General Motors: The Story of Two Unique Men, a Legendary Company, and a Remarkable Time in American History. AMACOM. ISBN978-0-8144-2961-7.
^ abLyle, T. K.; Miller, S.; Ashton, N. H. (1980). "William Stewart Duke-Elder. 22 April 1898-27 March 1978". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 26: 85. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1980.0003.
^M Skousen (2007). The Big Three in Economics: Adam Smith, Karl Marx, And John Maynard Keynes p3,5,6.
^E. K. Hunt (2002). History of Economic Thought: A Critical Perspective, p.3. ISBN0-7656-0606-2
^Willcox, William Bradford; Arnstein, Walter L. (1966). The Age of Aristocracy, 1688 to 1830. Volume III of A History of England, edited by Lacey Baldwin Smith (Sixth Edition, 1992 ed.). Lexington, Massachusetts. p. 133. ISBN0-669-24459-7.
^The Discovery of Hypnosis- The Complete Writings of James Braid, the Father of Hypnotherapy James Braid, Donald Robertson (ed.) 2009
^ abManson-Bahr, Patrick (1962). Patrick Manson. The Father of Tropical Medicine. Thomas Nelson
^James Hutton ‘The Founder of Modern Geology’ D. B. McIntyre, Alan McKirdy 2001, National Museums of Scotland Pub. Ltd. p45
^Kenneth L. Taylor (September 2006). "Ages in Chaos: James Hutton and the Discovery of Deep Time". The Historian (abstract) (Book review of Stephen Baxter, ISBN0-7653-1238-7).
^Historical Geology, 7th ed.: Evolution of Earth and Life Through Time. By Reed Wicander, James Stewart Monroe 2012 Cengage Learning, p67
^Wicks, Robert S. and Harrison, Roland H. (1999). Buried Cities, Forgotten Gods: William Niven's Life of Discovery and Revolution in Mexico and the American Southwest, Texas Tech University Press. ISBN0-89672-414-X
^Logic, language, information and computation: 15th international workshop, WoLLIC 2008, Edinburgh, UK, July 1–4, 2008
^Chambers's encyclopaedia: a dictionary of universal knowledge for the people Appleton 1864
^Biology: Concepts and Applications Without Physiology By Cecie Starr, Christine A. Evers, Lisa Starr
^Challoner, Jack et al. "1001 Inventions That Changed The World" Barrons Educational Series, Hauppauge NY, 2009.
^Colloid chemistry Robert James Hartman, Herman Thompson Briscoe Houghton Mifflin Co., 1947
^Chemistry and chemical reactivity, Volume 2 By John C. Kotz, Paul Treichel, John Raymond Townsend
^Scottish pride: 101 reasons to be proud of your Scottish heritage Heather Duncan
^Criminalistics: Forensic Science and Crime By James Girard
^Michael Friendly (2008). "Milestones in the history of thematic cartography, statistical graphics, and data visualization". pp 13-14. Retrieved 7 July 2008.
^Maskelyne, N. (1772). "A proposal for measuring the attraction of some hill in this Kingdom". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 65: 495–499. Bibcode:1775RSPT...65..495M
^Brzobohatý, O.; Karásek, V.; Šiler, M.; Chvátal, L.; Čižmár, T.; Zemánek, P. (20 January 2013). "Experimental demonstration of optical transport, sorting and self-arrangement using a 'tractor beam'". Nature Photonics. 7 (2): 123–127. Bibcode:2013NaPho...7..123B. doi:10.1038/nphoton.2012.332. ISSN1749-4885.
^A Handbook of determinative methods in clay mineralogy Michael Jeffrey Wilson, Michael John Wilson Blackie, 1987
^H. G. Wells, Modernity and the Movies by Keith Williams p17 introduction Liverpool University Press, 2007
^The Sorcerer's Apprentice : How Medical Imaging Is Changing Health Care by Bruce Hillman ACRIN Chair and Principal Investigator, Inc. Jeff Goldsmith President of Health Futures Oxford University Press, 2010 p25
^Crofton and Douglas's respiratory diseases, Volume 1 By Anthony Seaton, Douglas Seaton, Andrew Gordon Leitch, Sir John Crofton
^Milestones in health and medicine Anne S. Harding Oryx Press, 2000 - Medical
^van der Vring JA (June 1999). "Combination of calcium channel blockers and beta blockers for patients with exercise-induced angina pectoris: a double-blind parallel-group comparison of different classes of calcium channel blockers. The Netherlands Working Group on Cardiovascular Research (WCN)". Angiology. 50 (6): 447–454. doi:10.1177/000331979905000602. PMID10378820. S2CID21885509.
^The wonders of the piano: the anatomy of the instrument Catherine C. Bielefeldt, Alfred R. Weil
^Cunningham, Glenn (1953). "Oregon's First Salmon Canner, "Captain" John West". Oregon Historical Quarterly. 54 (3): 240–248. JSTOR20612107.
^The Picture History of Great Inventors By Gillian Clements
^The kaleidoscope, its history, theory and construction with its application By Sir David Brewster
^Grass tennis courts: how to construct and maintain them By J. Perris
^John Wesley Hanson (1900) Wonders of the nineteenth century: a panoramic review of the inventions and discoveries of the past hundred years, W. B. Conkey Publishers, Chicago
^Pen Portraits: Alexandria Virginia 1739–1900 by T. Michael Miller
Great Scottish Discoveries and Inventions, Bill Fletcher, William W. Fletcher, John Harrold, Drew, 1985, University of California, ISBN0-86267-084-5, ISBN978-0-86267-084-9
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
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, ISBN0-7618-2791-9, ISBN978-0-7618-2791-7
Philosophical chemistry in the Scottish enlightenment: the doctrines and discoveries of William Cullen and Joseph Black, Arthur L. Donovan
