How the Scots Invented the Modern World by Arthur Herman

[EJ]

I enjoyed this book mostly but I did skip over some of the sections on philosophy which was unfortunate because Herman refers to them repeatedly throughout the book. A lot of scholarship and research went into this book. Herman shows the Scottish ideas in things good and bad and how those ideas helped develop philosophies of democracy, slavery, socialism, Marxism, and freedom. He gives credit to Scotts for most important discoveries and many of our words. My favorite was: John McAdam figured out a cheap and efficient way to build a sturdy road bed out of crushed rock. This was badly needed especially in the Highlands. This new road got better with more traffic from horses and wagons because their weight pressed the rock closer together and made it firmer. So the idea caught on and “macadamized” roads were built all over England and Scotland. They were improved on when tar was added making tarmacadam roads or “tarmac”.

The Scots were heavily involved in the British Empire too. They helped to change social problems around the world. My favorite in this section was Charles Napier who, as governor of Sind in India, banned the practice of sutee, (burning a widow on her husband’s funeral pyre). When the local Brahmin priests protested that this was interfering with an important national custom, Napier replied, “My nation also has a custom. When men burn women alive, we hang them. Let us all act according to national custom.”

While I thought some Scottish connections were stretched a bit thin, and I figure most nations or cultures could come up with their own claims, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it, in fact, I would like to own this book, which from me is a high recommendation.