How the Scots Invented the Modern World

A book by Arthur Herman

When I think about Scotland and the Scots, I think about tartans, bagpipes, the scenery of the country, and of course my drink of choice, single malt scotch whiskey. But after reading How the Scots Invented the Modern World, I now appreciate the amazing contributions the Scots made to science, philosophy, literature, education, medicine, commerce, and politics during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The author, Arthur Herman tells a fascinating story about the ideas, discoveries, and achievements that made Scotland an inspiration and driving force in world history. Herman describes how John Knox and the Church of Scotland provided the foundation for our modern idea of democracy, and how the Scottish Enlightenment helped inspire the American Revolution and out U.S. Constitution. He movingly describes how Scottish immigrants emigrated from Scotland to help create the American frontier, the Australian outback, and the British Empire in India and Hong Kong.

I was particularly interested in Herman’s discussion about the clans being a “holdover from Scotland’s feudal, not tribal, past. The bonds that held the clan together were land and landholding.” He describes the average clan that existed in 1745 as being “no more a family than a Mafia ‘family’.” Blood relationships existed primarily between the chieftain and his key supporters. Clan members were mostly tenants and peasants, who worked the land and owed the chieftain service.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in not only the history of Scotland, but the significant contributions Scots made to our world.