Science, innovation and technology

Scotland has a long heritage of ingenuity and innovation which has shaped the world we live in. From its contributions to the 18th century to the wider European Enlightenment and cutting-edge science including the creation of the world’s first cloned mammal, Dolly the Sheep, the country’s innovation and technology plays an important role in the world we live in.

A feat of engineering

• The National Museum of Flight at East Fortune, East Lothian is a great day out for all the family. Follow the story of aviation across the 20th century and right up to the present day, and discover the important role aircraft has played, and even step aboard Concorde. 

A trick of the eye

• Enjoy Scotland in a whole new light with a visit to one of the country’s four brilliant Camera Obscuras, the optical device which projects images of the surrounding area onto a large viewing table. Head to the top of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, Kirrie Hill in Kirriemuir, Angus, Dumfries Museum and Cairn Gorm in the Highlands for unrivalled views.

A celebration of science

• Discover great interactive exhibits about Scotland’s innovation at Glasgow Science Centre, the Satrosphere Centre in Aberdeen and the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
  
• Uncover the fascinating tales of how the lives of those affected by limb loss through war, are being slowly pieced by together in Reconstructing Lives, at the National War Museum at Edinburgh Castle until February. From the earliest prosthetic limbs, to the cutting edge technology of today, the exhibtion highlights the history of prosthesis and how life-changing the technology can be.
  
• Gifted to the people of Dundee in 1935, the Mill Observatory is the only full-time public observatory in the UK and is home to many science displays and planetarium shows.