As a practising fiddle player and folk singer I applaud Douglas Blane’s report on music (TESS, last week).
However, I cannot accept the quote by John Wallace attacking science, technology and mathematics, calling them servants of ideas and creativity. I ask John Wallace to have a look around. Can he see anything that is man-made and has not been created by a scientist, engineer or technologist? Would he describe Leonardo da Vinci and Einstein as servants of ideas and creativity?
John Wallace implies that he sees science as cultureless. I suppose he also thinks engineers are people who fix washing machines. For this country of ours to prosper we need to recognise that success in the fields of science, engineering and technology is vital.
We need to get in line with the rest of the developed world and give these disciplines the status they deserve in our society. Scotland is not Brigadoon but a real country, we cannot afford to live in a fantasy world of music and dance.
John Wallace should remember that when someone is conducting music he is not creating music, he is interpreting and playing music that was created by someone else, and the musicians are playing instruments that have been produced by technologists.
Chris Sagan Probationer physics teacher Glasgow
