Caledonia Dreaming: 100 Scots Who Changed the World Not Always for the Better!

A humorous look at Scots who shaped the world—from Alexander Graham Bell and Sean Connery to Arthur Conan Doyle and Gordon Brown So what have the Scots ever done for the world? Most people know about John Logie Baird, inventor of television; Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone; and Alexander Fleming, inventor of penicillin; but what about Alexander Cummings from Edinburgh? It would be hard to imagine getting through the day without using his invention—the flushing toilet. Or how about William Cullen from Glasgow? There would be a lot of sour milk—and warm beer—without artificial refrigeration. The list of Scottish inventors covered here goes on and on—Janet Keillor from Dundee (marmalade), James Clerk Maxwell from Edinburgh (radio waves), James Black from Uddingston (beta-blockers), James Bowman Lindsay from Angus (lightbulbs), James Goodfellow from Paisley (the ATM), Alexander McRae from the Kyle of Lochalsh (speedos), James Blyth from Kincardineshire (the first electricity-producing wind turbine). This book collects the often unbelievable stories behind these discoveries and looks at how they—along with the writers, philosophers, philanthropists, and bankers of Scotland—have left their unique, indelible mark on the modern world.