20 Incredible Inventions You Didn't Know Were Scottish

Is Scotland responsible for Halloween?

The vote for Scottish independence has been and gone, and few can deny that this was a momentous moment in the history of the United Kingdom. Whether you were hoping for Scottish independence and saw it as a unique opportunity for the Scottish people to forge a new and distinct path or you're glad the Union has been maintained and believe that their membership helps put the €œGreat€ in Great Britain, it represented a turning point in the history of the relationship between England and Scotland. Regardless of your political views, there's one thing that cannot be denied, and that's the huge contribution to the advancement of the modern world made by Scottish inventors, scientists and entrepreneurs. The level of skill and expertise the Scots have demonstrated over the centuries has brought us a huge list of machines and inventions we rely on every day of our lives. While some of these are well known €“ few people are unaware of Scotsman Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, or John Logie Baird, the man who, for better or worse, introduced the world to the television €“ there are plenty more fantastic inventions for which the Scottish deserve full credit. Here are 20 of the most amazing inventions you probably didn't know came from Scotland, some of which we're certain you'll find very surprising indeed. Speaking of which...

20. Tractor Beams

Okay, we know what you're thinking. Tractor beams only exist in science fiction, right? Not since 2013 €“ scientists at the Institute of Scientific Instrument, along with their colleagues at the university of St. Andrews succeeded in constructing a tractor beam device which is capable of pulling objects €“ albeit at a microscopic level. A long way from those envisioned in Star Trek, perhaps, but an amazing achievement nevertheless.

19. Radar

Radar, the object detection system which determines the location in any given space of an object by using radio waves, revolutionized both air travel and warfare. While it was German inventors who got the ball rolling, the real breakthroughs came from Scotsman Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt, without whom mid-air collisions wouldn't be a thing of the past.
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Andrew Dilks hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.