This week the Scotsman Newspaper is asking readers to vote for the greatest Scottish inventor. Each day of this week the Scotsman writer, Claire Smith, is profiling seventeen of the best known individuals. Votes can be cast online (you need to register first) or by completing and sending in a coupon clipped from the newspaper. There is the option to vote for someone not included in the seventeen listed by Smith.
The seventeen listed are:
1001 John Logie Baird
1002 Alexander Graham Bell
1003 James Black
1004 Ian Donald
1005 John Boyd Dunlop
1006 Alexander Fleming
1007 James Goodfellow
1008 Lord Kelvin
1009 Charles MacIntosh
1010 Kirkpatrick MacMillan
1011 James Clerk Maxwell
1012 William Murdoch
1013 James Young Simpson
1014 Robert Watson-Watt
1015 James Watt
1016 Ian Wilmut
1017 James 'Paraffin' Young
Unfortunately, Claire Smith does not state which of the above were Freemasons but several were. Without wishing to influence anyone I can say that I shall be voting for James Young Simpson because his idscovery of a pewerful anaesthectic revoultionised surgery worldwide saving untold numbers of women in childbirth as a consequence. It read an article about his life and work click here or on any previous link.
How to vote:
Online: click here and follow the instructions as to how to vote.
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. This is the only method available to vote for individuals not included in the list of the seventeen named in the newspaper.
Post: Cut out the coupon in The Scotsman each day this week, complete it and post it to:
Scotland's Greatest Inventor,The Scotsman,108 Holyrood Road,Edinburgh,EH8 8AS.The coupon has been reproduced here (a .pdf file) and can be downloaded here and posted to The Scotsman.
Text: Text the word INVENTOR followed by a space, then the numeric code of the inventor you wish to vote for followed by a space - then your name, a space, then your postcode. Send to 81800 (charged at the standard network rate).
The closing date for entries is Wednesday, 19th September so get cracking!
