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.
Out of the mainstream but ahead of the tide, that is Scottish Science Fiction. Science Fiction emphasizes "progress" through technology, advanced mental states, or future times. How does Scotland, often considered a land of the past, lead in Science Fiction? "Left behind" by international politics, Scots have cultivated alternate places and different times as sites of identity so that Scotland can seem a futuristic fiction itself. This book explores the tensions between science and a particular society that produce an innovative science fiction. Essays consider Scottish thermodynamics, Celtic myth, the rigors of religious "conversion," Scotland's fractured politics yet civil society, its languages of alterity (Scots, Gaelic, allegory, poetry), and the lure of the future. From Peter Pan and Dr. Jekyll to the poetry of Edwin Morgan and the worlds of Muriel Spark, Ken Macleod, or Iain M. Banks, Scotland's creative complex yields a literature that models the future for Science Fiction.
This paper is the latest in the Scotland analysis series and explores how an integrated domestic environment for research in publicly funded institutions supports the UK's, including Scotland's, excellent and thriving research base which is vital for innovation and economic success. An independent Scottish state would become responsible for deciding how much to spend on research activity and how to distribute research funding. In order to replace the 2012-13 level of Research Council expenditure in Scotland (£307 million), the government of an independent Scottish state would have to spend 0.23 per cent of 2012 GDP on research or seek additional funding from elsewhere such as overseas, businesses or charities. Businesses and research charities could, however, face additional administrative burdens created by divergences in regulatory regimes and tax jurisdictions, meaning funding projects in both the continuing UK and an independent Scottish state could become more complex. UK national institutions would operate on behalf of the continuing UK as before but would have no power or obligation to act in, or on behalf of, an independent Scottish state. In the event of independence the single strategic and highly integrated research framework would be likely to diverge as an independent Scottish state set and deliver its own research priorities. Research collaborations between the continuing UK and an independent Scottish state would be international collaborations associated with levels of risk not present in domestic collaborations. Research excellence is also supported by the ability of researchers and staff to move freely across the UK and elsewhere, thereby supporting the flow of knowledge
Universities are fundamental to the contemporary knowledge economy. They directly and indirectly support economic growth in both developing and advanced economies. In addition to their traditional teaching and research functions, they often also have important roles in supporting regional development and urban regeneration, as well as involvement in fostering international relations, in , cultural developments and in enhancing social cohesion. While higher education institutions in many countries are often assigned key roles in economic and social policy prescriptions, exactly what those roles are and how they should be carried out are often unclear. Universities and the Knowledge Economy provides a much-needed theoretical and empirical analysis of these functions, taking a critical look at the complex connections between knowledge creation, the knowledge economy, and higher education today. This volume: Brings together work on these topics by international experts, reporting and analysing recent policy developments and research Shows the significance of the university’s role in the knowledge economy, and the precise roles that it can play. Presents a range of studies showing how universities interact with other knowledge producers and users, and how these interactions can be managed to achieve the most effective applications of knowledge Universities are multi-faceted institutions that everywhere are accorded special status. Universities and the Knowledge Economy examines how these institutions carry our knowledge production and application, and how their distinctive characters affect what they do. . This title is of both intellectual and operational relevance, and would be suitable for those interested in higher education and policy and practice, and in the theory of higher education. Paul Temple is Reader in Higher Education Management and Co-Director of the Centre for Higher Education Studies at the Institute of Education, University of London, UK.
The diversity of Scotland's mountains is remarkable, ranging from the isolated summits of the far northwest, through the tor-studded high plateau of the Cairngorms to the hills of the Southern Uplands. Colin Ballantyne explains the geological and geomorphological evolution of Scotland's mountains to form an unparalleled variety of mountain forms.
New Medical Challenges explores a wide range of social and medical practices, exposing the contradictions and ambiguities found in eighteenth-century Scottish health, science and medicine. The overall picture casts further light on the nature of the Enlightenment as a cultural phenomenon.