Famous Scientist,HisTravels in Scotland andThoughts on Piping
HELEN ROSS
scientists as the Swiss chemist who first reported that engravings of crystals could be seen ‘inside out’, in reversible perspective. This phenomenon became known as the reversible Necker cube (bottom left), and much was written about the possible optical and neural mechanisms (see Wade, N.J. et al. 2010). It is less well known that Necker loved climbing in Scotland, and eventually settled in Portree. He studied chemistry at Edinburgh University in 1806, and toured parts of Scotland in 1807. He wrote accounts of these journeys, which were later published as Travels in Scotland (1821), and Journey to the Hebrides(1822).He had quite a bit to say about Scottish character, culture, language, music and in particular piping. He attended piping competitions run by the Highland
L
OUIS Albert Necker de Saussure (1786-1861) is familiar to psychologists and vision
Louis Albert Necker de Saussure
Society in Edinburgh, and wrote (1821, p. 28): “During this period [the
Necker’s drawing of a rhomboid in which either point A or point X can be seen at the front.
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beginning of August], the curious competition of pipers takes place, of which M. Faujas de St Fond has alluded to in his travels. His description appears to me exact in certain points, but his imagination has carried him to see in the airs which these Highlanders play, a sort of description of battles, followed by the cries of the dying, and the groans of the wounded; whilst, in fact, they are only warlike marches, or complaints on the subject of the death of some chief, in which the motive or theme, is of a very tedious movement,but the variations which follow it are very lively. In these variations the musician