Salmond invokes the spirit of Scottish scientific achievement

Scotland’s first minister Alex Salmond has challenged his compatriots to live up to their national reputation for scientific and technological achievement.

In delivering his New Year’s message from the newly refurbished National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh on 30 December, Salmond pointed out exhibits including James Watt’s steam engine, Alexander Fleming’s Nobel prize for the discovery of penicillin and John Logie Baird’s prototype television. These are examples of how Scotland has helped shape the modern world, he said.