is one of the most important popular science books published in recent years. In a series of entertaining and engaging essays, it describes how a small nation on the northwest fringe of Europe produced, over a period of three centuries, an outpouring of scientific genius. From John Napier to James Watt, James Young Simpson to Joseph Lister, Mary Somerville to Lord Kelvin and James Clerk Maxwell, the book tells the stories of the pioneering scientists, engineers and medical doctors who drove Scotland's scientific awakening and enlightenment. They made some of the most insightful discoveries and innovations that have shaped our modern world. Their stories beautifully fill an important and surprising gap in Scotland's historical literature - and in the general history of science.