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Light bulb | James Watt (1736-1819)
James Watt was a mechanical engineer, born in Greenock, Scotland who invented the light bulb. In 1764, Watt received a steam engine for repair. So, Watt started to design a better, more efficient engine. His new machine didn't lose steam, and it used 75% less fuel than Other engines. Watt's invention made the Industrial Revolution in Britain possible. -
Refrigerator | Scotsman William Cullen (1710 - 1790)
He was born in 1710. The fridge opened up new tastes from far off lands and helped prolong the life of perishable food items. Cullen demonstrated his discovery at Glasgow University in 1748, though at the time no effort was made to commercialise the invention. -
Telephone | Alexandre Graham Bell (1847-1922)
Alexander Graham Bell was born in Edinburgh, but moved with his family to North America in 1870. He was interested in the science of hearing because both his mother and wife were deaf. Bell taught at different schools for deaf people. Then, he experimented with new inventions to help the deaf and through this work, he invented the telephone in 1876. -
Fingerprinting | Henry Faulds (1843 - 1930)
The idea of using fingerprinting for use in identifying criminals belongs to Scottish doctor, Henry Faulds, who first suggested it back in 1880. He came up with the idea while working on archaeological digs in Japan and noticing finger prints on shards of ancient pottery. -
Penicillin | Alexander Fleming(1881-1955)
Born in Ayrshire, Sir Alexander Fleming moved to London and studied medicine at the University of London. Later, he joined the Research Department of St Mary's Medical School. During World War I, Fleming saw many soldiers die because his wounds became infected with bacteria. He was desperate to find a way to kill the bacteria. Flemig wondered why the fungi in the mold killed the bacteria and called this penicillin who discovered it in 1928. -
Television | John Logie Baird (1888 - 1946)
Building on elements from both inventions Baird debuted his television in 1925. It took a string of failed inventions before Baird was struck by the inspiration to amalgamate the technology of Paul Gottlieb Nipkow’s ‘Nipkow’s Disc’ with Arthur Korn’s long-distance photography -
Mammal cloning | Professor Sir Ian Wilmut (1996).
Dolly was the first-ever mammal to be cloned from an adult cell. Known as 'the world's most famous sheep', Dolly was born on 5 July 1996 at the Roslin Institute, which is part of The University of Edinburgh. Dolly lived to the age of seven and gave birth to six healthy lambs during her life.