Scotland has sent the world far more than Scotch whisky and Auld Lang Syne. While these contributions shouldn’t be minimised, there have been many important discoveries that came out of Scotland that made life easier, changed lives for the better, and even saved lives. Strides in civil engineering, road construction, medicine, agriculture, weapons, science, communications, sports, and even economics came from the minds of brilliant and imaginative Scots.

The “Mac”

No doubt it was Scotland’s climate that prompted Charles Macintosh to create the first waterproof coat in 1823. The early models were stiff, smelly, and tended to melt when the temperature turned warm. Fortunately, these problems were worked out about twenty years later and we can now wear a Macintosh without fear of meltdown.

Artificial Cooling

It took almost one hundred years for someone to make use of the discovery that William Cullen developed at the University of Glasgow in 1748… artificial cooling that developed into today’s refrigerators that keep us from having to chunk blocks of ice into wooden boxes.

The Television

Many have had input into the development of television but the first moving image was demonstrated by John Logie Baird in 1926. Whether or not television has improved our lives is open to discussion.

Golf

What would the world be without golf? Every country wants to claim the game as their own but the ones who put it all together and made it what it is today are the Scots. The game has come a long way since shepherds knocked rocks into rabbit holes back in the 12th century.

Macadam Road Sealant

We no longer have to slog through muddy roads thanks to John Loudon McAdam, the engineer from Ayr who, around 1816, came up with the protective layer to seals roads… macadam.

The Pneumatic Tyre

John Boyd Dunlop created the pneumatic tyre in 1887 because his son kept getting headaches while riding his bicycle as the iron bands on the wheels thumped on rough roads. Dunlop assigned his invention to William Harvey Du Cros and didn’t make much money from something that has become so crucial to the modern world.

Insulin

In 1923, John James Rickard Macleod shared the Noble Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Fredrick Banting for the discovery of insulin. Charles Best and biochemist JamesCollip were also involved in the discovery. There was dissension among the four but the discovery saved so many lives that it’s best to just ignore it.

What about Whisky, Haggis, Kilts and Bagpipes?

These inventions are famous, but some of the most famous ‘Scottish’ imports we know and love – whisky, haggis, kilts and bagpipes are arguably all from various origins but have been strongly engrained in the Scottish culture.

Regardless, all would agree that Scotch whisky,  traditional Scottish haggis, Highland wear and bagpipes are in a league of their own. Few would argue the excellence, quality and their unique interpretation of “scottishness” that has been placed on their icons to make them their own, regardless of the icon’s origin.

Whether it be inventions or traditions, we can thank the Scots for their pursuit of change, innovation, pleasure and flavour, which has produced icons now widely known and loved across the globe.

A Tartan, associated mostly with Scottish culture, is a woven cloth consisting of criss-crossed patterns and vertical bands in a variety of colors. Tartan is often seen in Scottish kilts, bag pipes, and other fashions.

Tartans are made up of two parts, a warp (which is vertical stripes) and a weft (horizontal stripes). It’s important that each warp and weft meet at a right angle, otherwise you’ll end up with a different, and rather crooked, design. When combining the two pieces, the different colors on the warp and weft combine to form new colors, while the original color stays in some parts. Once combined, there is a new number of colors. The more colors you start out with, the more will end up in the finished product. For example, say you started out with six base colors. When you combine the warp and the weft, you’ll produce fifteen new colors for a total amount of twenty-two colors. The sett, or the sequence of the threads, begins at the edge of the fabric or other medium and reverses on pivot points. Pivot points are usually just smaller lines separating the larger chunks of color. To count color threads (you can count both the color and the width), you would do this: If you had 4 black green threads, 24 black threads, 4 green threads, and 24 black threads, it would be represented by ‘G4 K24 G4 K24′.

There’s many colors that Tartans can be made from, and each shade has it’s own meaning. They are varied by muted, ancient, and modern colors. Modern dyes are blue, black and green chemical dyes instead of natural. Ancient is lighter shades produced by natural dyes. Muted dyes are the shades you’d find between ancient and modern. Many people think that the colors signify something. They do, but this idea has only existed in the past century. A popular misconception is that red Tartans were worn by warriors so their blood was camouflaged. Today, in countries like America and Canada, blue symbolizes water, green symbolizes forests, and yellow symbolizes crops.

Tartans have flourished since 400BC. Although the thread didn’t exist in Scotland until the 16th century, it thrives there now. Tartans were mostly associated with regions and districts, but are now associated mostly with Scottish clans. Today, tartans are made from thread, plastics, and paper.