SET question

I’ve not taken much notice ­before of the categories included in the Top Scot Award. But there seems to me to be a glaring omission this year not excused by the (welcome) inclusion of Peter Higgs as a Top Scot.

The category (upon which our economy, our infrastructure, our everyday living depends) is of course science, engineering and technology (SET). So why has this been missed?

Could it be for the same reasons that science subjects sometimes appear to have not been so popular to choose at school, 
perhaps because it’s not realised how integral to modern life they are?

We use our transport, electricity, communications, computers and buildings without giving a second thought as to how they came about, were designed, developed and put into operation. But in these areas, and many more, scientists and engineers are very much involved.

A SET category in the award could encompass nominees in a wide variety of fields; education from nursery (yes!) to university, innovation and design, implementation and production, manufacturing, research, and utilisation of technology amongst others.

I wonder if it is appreciated that TV, radio, wi-fi, mobile phone and satellite communication (all of which most of us would be hard-pressed to do without in some way) are all based on Scot James Clerk Maxwell’s equations?

So let’s have a category that recognises his successors, or does Scotland not want to acknowledge its SET world leaders in this award?

James Paterson

Craigmount Crescent

Edinburgh