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Green Arrow
04-29-2014, 07:42 AM
I recently picked up "How the Scots Invented the Modern World" by historian Arthur Herman from my local Barnes & Noble. The title and summary intrigued me. I'm going to read through it and post my observations here.

Beevee
04-29-2014, 07:55 AM
Perhaps the discovery of the steam engine, the telephone, television, the bicycle and penicillin had some effect.

Green Arrow
04-29-2014, 07:57 AM
Perhaps the discovery of the steam engine, the telephone, television, the bicycle and penicillin had some effect.

I'm sure those are probably in the book. I expect Andrew Carnegie in particular to make an appearance.

KC
04-29-2014, 08:13 AM
I'm sure Adam Smith has a lot to do with it too, if the historian is worth his salt.

Green Arrow
04-29-2014, 08:19 AM
I'm sure Adam Smith has a lot to do with it too, if the historian is worth his salt.

Chapter Eight: Adam Smith and His Friends

KC
04-29-2014, 08:20 AM
Chapter Eight: Adam Smith and His Friends

Sounds like an interesting book!

Captain Obvious
04-29-2014, 08:24 AM
Whatever happened to Paperback Writer ? He had a really negative view of the Scots.

Green Arrow
04-29-2014, 08:26 AM
Whatever happened to @Paperback Writer (http://thepoliticalforums.com/member.php?u=862) ? He had a really negative view of the Scots.

He's British, of course he does :tongue:

Beevee
04-29-2014, 08:29 AM
He's British, of course he does :tongue:

I'm sure you mean English.

KC
04-29-2014, 08:31 AM
The book seems pretty timely, what with the upcoming referendum on Scotland's independence.

Captain Obvious
04-29-2014, 08:32 AM
The book seems pretty timely, what with the upcoming referendum on Scotland's independence.

Entertainment media is often opportunistic.

KC
04-29-2014, 08:34 AM
Entertainment media is often opportunistic.

True, but if there's an opportunity to learn in there it's good.

Chris
04-29-2014, 08:35 AM
Smith and Hume.

Hayek, "Individualism: True and False," (http://mises.org/books/individualismandeconomicorder.pdf) refers to the Scottish/English tradition of liberalism as true individualism, as opposed to the French tradition of false individualism (collectivism).

Green Arrow
04-29-2014, 08:37 AM
The book seems pretty timely, what with the upcoming referendum on Scotland's independence.

The book was published in 2001.

KC
04-29-2014, 08:40 AM
The book was published in 2001.

Sure, but I'm sure it's no coincidence that it was out on shelves in 2014.

Captain Obvious
04-29-2014, 08:42 AM
Sure, but I'm sure it's no coincidence that it was out on shelves in 2014.

It's funny when some subsequent event suddenly throws some earlier work or piece into immediate popularity.

Green Arrow
04-29-2014, 08:44 AM
Sure, but I'm sure it's no coincidence that it was out on shelves in 2014.

*shrug* Could be, I suppose.

KC
04-29-2014, 08:50 AM
It's funny when some subsequent event suddenly throws some earlier work or piece into immediate popularity.

*shrug* Could be, I suppose.

It's not a bad thing. Current events generate interest for earlier events. It's a good way of getting the public engaged with some sort of material. Just like the way there was renewed interest in Keynes and Hayek following the most recent recession.

Peter1469
04-29-2014, 10:23 AM
On one of my trips to Scotland I was on a walking tour in Edinburgh - sanitation was the worst enemy of the city. People would toss the contents of piss pots out their doors at a pre-arraigned time every day. And if you are familiar with the city it is on a ridge, and the north side went down into what is a very nice green area today. Hundreds of years ago it was a shit swamp. Literally.

I asked the guide, why? Because the Romans never conquered Scotland!

Down there.

Paperback Writer
04-29-2014, 11:17 AM
Whatever happened to @Paperback Writer (http://thepoliticalforums.com/member.php?u=862) ? He had a really negative view of the Scots.

Course I don't. My mum is a Scot. I have a very negative view of the Welsh and Irish.

Green Arrow
04-29-2014, 11:19 AM
Course I don't. My mum is a Scot. I have a very negative view of the Welsh and Irish.

The Irish, I can understand, but why the Welsh?

Spectre
04-29-2014, 09:12 PM
Those damn Scots have been busy inventing shit!

http://www.amazon.com/Scots-Invented-Canada-McGoogan-2011/dp/B00D8239WI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1398823844&sr=8-2&keywords=how+the+scots+invented+canada

nathanbforrest45
05-01-2014, 11:52 AM
The greatest invention of the Scotsman was the bag pipe. What other instrument be so vile in tone but so highly revered as the bag pipe? I have it on very good authority that it was invented one day when Sandy McTavish accidentally stepped on his cat.

Green Arrow
05-01-2014, 09:27 PM
The greatest invention of the Scotsman was the bag pipe. What other instrument be so vile in tone but so highly revered as the bag pipe? I have it on very good authority that it was invented one day when Sandy McTavish accidentally stepped on his cat.

http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg554/Kittezu/laugh.gif

There is a certain beauty to it, though. It represents the Scottish spirit. Rough and eternally irritating :tongue:

nathanbforrest45
05-02-2014, 06:27 AM
Well Laddie ye know what they be saying. "If ye're not Scottish, ye're crrrrrrap"