(4-97) One remark about cultures that value education. Your friend, Wolfgang commented that Jews, like the Chinese valued education above the norm.

I must take issue with one point. He wrote, "I know of only two cultures, in which education has had a high value for many centuries. These are the Chinese and the Jewish cultures."

I would like to point out that Scotland also has a long standing record of special interest in education. Edinburgh had the first university in the British Isles. I believe that at one point in the Middle Ages, Scotland had two or three universities while England had none. Indeed very few countries at that time had more than one university within their borders.

Scotland was also in the lead with education provided by the state for the common man. (If I weren't pressed for time, I'd go and find a reference/specific date for you. However, I *am* at work...)

One amusing outcome of the Scottish interest in education comes from the 19th century and can be seen on a popular TV series. When steam engines were introduced into ships, the engine room had to have an officer in charge of the engine room gang. For most of the 19th century, to be an officer was, ipso facto, to be a "Gentleman." However working with engines was considered too close to non-gentlemanly activities (like "Trade!") for the tastes of most English.

The Scots had no such qualms and sent their young men to the schools to learn about the new modern technology, Steam Power. Then they could get a job as the Engineering Officer on a ship and suddenly leap upwards in the social strata.

Scots went into the engineering rooms of British ships in droves. Before long, it was commonplace for the engineering officer to have the same nick-name as the Chief Engineer of the original SS Enterprise:

"Scotty!"