Doohan understood from the outset that a fictional ship's engineer would be taken more seriously if he was at least vaguely Scottish

I've often referred to how disappointing it is that the only "engineers" the public can name are car mechanics on TV soap operas, but let's make an exception. Yes, tributes need to be paid to the fictional Montgomery Scott, Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise, following the death yesterday of actor James Doohan. "Scotty" may have been representative of the old school ship's engineer, but it seems the character inspired sufficient numbers of students to take up engineering that Doohan was awarded a real-life honorary doctorate from an American engineering school, and that can only be a good thing (I know, don't get me going on the subject of why most honorary academic titles are awarded...).

Although a Canadian, Doohan understood from the outset that a fictional ship's engineer would be taken more seriously if he was at least vaguely Scottish, which is why he adopted the accent and the name. Scotland is perhaps even more famous for its inventors than its engineers (such as Telford and Stevenson), but it did always seem right, somehow. It also seems allowable that every newspaper today should have the right to wheel out the "Beam me up, Scotty" catchphrase which, like "Play it again, Sam", was never actually said on film.

Doohan may have departed, but thanks to the magic of fiction, Scotty will forever be out there somewhere in the shuttlecraft which Captain Picard gave him. I'm sure he's managed to do great things with the old impulse drive.