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Greatest Scots in history

Individuals are listed in chronological order of birth. Note that only people who have been dead for at least 50 years are listed, as we believe that personal achievements are best judged with the hindsight of history.

William Paterson (1658-1719) was the instigator and a co-founder of the Bank of England. He later attempted, unsuccessfully, to establish Scotland's first colony, called 'New Caledonia', on the Isthmus of Panama to facilitate trade with the Far East. Upon his return to Scotland in December 1699, he became instrumental in the movement for the Union of Scotland and England, culminating in his support of the Act of Union 1707.

David Hume (1711-1776) was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He was one of the first philosophers to challenge the argument from design for the existence of God. Hume pioneered the essay as a literary genre. He also played a major role for the subsequent development of utilitarianism, logical positivism, early analytic philosophy, and cognitive philosophy. The philosopher Jerry Fodor proclaimed Hume's Treatise "the founding document of cognitive science".

Adam Smith (1723-1790) is considered the founder of political economy and classical economics. His treatise The Wealth of Nations was the first modern work of economics, in which he states the concept of 'invisible hand' to describe the self-regulating nature of the marketplace. In 2009, Smith was named among the 'Greatest Scots' of all time, in a vote run by Scottish television channel STV.

Adam Ferguson (1723-1816) is often referred to as "the father of modern sociology". He is best remembered for his Essay on the History of Civil Society, published in 1767. Ferguson was born in Logierait, Perthshire.

James Watt (1736-1819) is known to the world as one of the initiators of the Industrial Revolution. Born in Greenock, Renfrewshire, Watt became an instrument maker at the University of Glasgow. Between 1763 to 1775, he worked on improving the design of the 1712 Newcomen engine, and ended up developing the Watt steam engine, the first practical device to harness the power of steam to produce mechanical work. It used 75% less coal than Newcomen's. With his business partner Matthew Boulton, James Watt began making steam engines that would considerably accelerate the pace of the Industrial Revolution.

John Paul Jones (1747-1792), a native of Kirkcudbrightshire, was a hero and the first well-known naval fighter in the American Revolutionary War. He is considered the "Father of the American Navy". In 1776, Jones was the first man to hoist an U.S. flag, Grand Union Flag, over an American ship. Following the Declaration of Independence, he was assigned the command of the USS Ranger on 14 June 1777, the same day the new Stars and Stripes flag was adopted. On 24 April 1778, Jones captured the sloop-of-war HMS Drake off the coast of Ireland, the first-ever American naval victory against a British ship of war. Jones later served in the Imperial Russian Navy.

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) was a philosopher, a political economist, a Member of Parliament and an important figure in liberal political philosophy. He has been called "the most influential English-speaking philosopher of the nineteenth century". Mill was a proponent of utilitarianism, arguing that one must always act so as to produce the greatest aggregate happiness among all sentient beings, within reason. His view on liberty was that each individual has the right to act as he wants, so long as these actions do not harm others. Mill also set the premises of falsification as the key component in the scientific method.

William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), was a British statesman, considered by some one of the three greatest Liberals in British history. In a career lasting over sixty years, during the Victorian Golden Age of Great Britain, he served as Prime Minister four separate times (1868–1874, 1880–1885, February–July 1886 and 1892–1894), more than any other person. He is remembered for introducing secret ballot at elections, for proposing Irish Home rule and improving the legal rights of Irish tenant farmers. Though born in Liverpool, his father was from Edinburgh and his mother from Ross-shire, and he was of purely Scottish ancestry.

Allan Pinkerton (1819-1884) left his native Glasgow for the USA in 1842. He became Chicago's first full-time detective in 1849, and the next year founded the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. The term 'private eye' comes from Pinkerton's business insignia, a wide open eye with the caption "We never sleep". In 1861, Pinkerton foiled a plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln on his way to his inauguration. Lincoln later hired Pinkerton agents for his personal security during the Civil War, as well as to gather military information in the Southern States. This Intelligence Service was the forerunner of the modern US Secret Service.

Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919), a son of Dunfermline in Fife, moved to the USA with his parents at the age of 13 and went on to become the richest man in the world, building his fortune in the steel industry. In 1901, Carnegie returned to his Scottish hometown where he purchased the private estate of Pittencrieff Park and opened it to all members of the public, establishing the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust. He donated $10 million to establish the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland. Carnegie also funded the foundation of over 2,500 public libraries around the English-speaking world. The first of these Carnegie libraries opened in Dunfermline in 1883.

Thomas Blake Glover (1838-1911) was a merchant from Fraserburgh. Initially employed by Jardine Matheson for buying Japanese green tea from Nagasaki, he founded his own firm in 1861. He started selling ships and guns illegally to the rebellious samurai clans of southern Japan, and smuggled five young samurai to Britain to learn about the Western political and economic system in order to reform feudal Japan. Among them was the future Prime Minister Itō Hirobumi. This eventually led to the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate and the Meiji Restoration. Glover played a key role in the industrialisation of Japan. He brought the first steam locomotive and the first dry dock to Japan, developed coal mining, and helped found the Mitsubishi shipping company (the future Mitsubishi Corporation) and the Japan Brewery Company (later renamed Kirin). Glover was the first non-Japanese person to be awarded the Order of the Rising Sun.

John Muir (1838-1914), from Dunbar in East Lothian, is considered the "Father of the National Parks" and the "Father of World Conservation". He emigrated to America and trained as a botanist. He petitioned the U.S. Congress for the National Park bill that was passed in 1890, establishing both Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. The Sierra Club, which he founded, is now one of the most important conservation organizations in the United States.

Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone. He became one of the founding members of the National Geographic Society.

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was a medical doctor and writer, author of the world-famous detective Sherlock Holmes. His other works include science fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, historical novels and humours.

Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 for his discovery of penicillin, considered the most efficacious life-saving drug in the world. Penicillin would change forever the treatment of bacterial infections and save millions of lives. He was voted by Time magazine one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century. Fleming was a native of Lochfield, Ayrshire.


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