Best overlooked Scot

Published on Tuesday 26 May 2009 22:02

JAMES CLERK MAXWELL 1831-79: Maxwell's Equations proved electricity, magnetism and light are manifestations of the same phenomenon: the electromagnetic field.

Together with the Maxwell Distribution (describing the kinetic theory of gases), he laid the foundations for special relativity and quantum physics. he also invented colour photography.

JAMES BURNETT, LORD MONBODDO 1714-99: Credited as being the significant precursor of Darwin, proposing adaptive evolution and arguing that primates were much the same as humans Monboddo received much ridicule. As a linguist he was the first-ever scholar to use language as evidence for the single origin of humanity.

JOSEPH BLACK 1728-99: Not only the first man in history to identify a gas (carbon dioxide), he discovered latent heat and specific heat. Recognised as the founder of thermochemistry, he developed the idea of heat capacity. The chemistry buildings at both the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh are named after him. He Taught James Watt.

PATRICK FERGUSON 1744-80: Ferguson fought in the Seven Years War and invented the world's first breech-loading rifle. The Army bluntly refused to adopt this "barbarous" weapon. In 1777, during the American War of Independence, Ferguson and three others – all armed with his prototype weapon – ambushed two enemy at Brandywine, Pennsylvania. Ferguson thought it "ungentlemanly" to shoot them. Later he discovered he'd spared the life of George Washington.

JAMES LIND 1716-94: In 1747 the Royal Navy Edinburgh-born surgeon carried out the first clinical experiments in medical history to prove that citrus fruit cured scurvy. Though the cure was already known, Lind's methodology transformed science. He also proved that fresh water could be distilled from seawater. Few Navy men have made a greater contribution to the welfare of their shipmates.