Morrison-Low, A D. 2010. “Northern Lights: The Age of Scottish Lighthouses” NMS Enterprises Limited for the National Museums Scotland and the Royal Scottish Society of Arts. (pb) ISBN 978-1-905267-47-7, rrp £17.99. (hb) ISBN 978-1-905267-57-6, rrp £25.00. Reviewed by Mr Robert JC Mowat RD MA Dip Sci Arch FSA Scot, Dunfermline, Fife.

“Northern Lights: The Age of Scottish Lighthouses”

Scottish lighthouses have not previously received the extended, detailed and systematic study that their significance deserves; this impressive book does much to remedy the deficiency. Written by the Principal Curator of Science at the National Museums Scotland to accompany the 2010-11 exhibition of the same name, it offers a succinct but detailed summary of the subject, interleaving consideration of lighthouse optics and equipment with that of personalities and curiosities, and of the structures themselves. The illustrations (too numerous to count) and the fact-laden text attest to thorough research into all aspects of the subject. The opportunity has clearly been taken of drawing attention to long-neglected objects within the museum’s own collections, while the resources of the National Library of Scotland and other institutions have been thoroughly trawled.

The scope and quality of the book are apparent from the illustrations alone. Commendably, unusually, and reflecting her specialisation, the author stresses the description of equipment (specifically optics) rather than that of the better-known structures. These amazing instruments share their elegant simplicity of specialised design with both optical and radio telescopes; modern light-emitting diodes, sealed beam arrays and solar panels sorely lack their appeal. Some of the precision instruments that were used in their calibration are also illustrated, while lighthouse construction is represented by numerous photographs of models, in some cases sectional. Temporary (construction) ‘barracks’ and keyed stonework are well covered, but foghorns, shore stations and contemporary ‘lansdcape’ paintings receive little mention. The stereo photographs of displays in the ‘Chambers Street Museum’ in about 1867 record both a technique of presentation then common but since largely forgotten, and a style of museum display very different from that now fashionable.

Closer study reveals that this book extends far beyond its brief. Chapter 2 is devoted to a comprehensive history of the successive lighthouses on the Eddystone Rock, off Plymouth, while chapter 6 summarises the export of the Stevenson tradition to the Far East and Japan. Within Scottish waters, chapter 3 describes the early (pre-Stevenson) lights (most notably those on the Isle of May) in considerable detail. Chapter 4 recognises the significance of the bicentenary of the construction of the Bell Rock (the occasion for the linked exhibition) by presenting the varied evidence for this tortuous process and for the significant lessons that were learnt from it. Against this background the summary history (Chapter 5) of the later lighthouses is entirely adequate.

The author, consistently and happily, sets developments in lighthouse technology against contemporary advances in optics, most notably the theoretical advances of David Brewster in Edinburgh and the practical developments of Augustin Fresnel, François Arago, Georges Buffon and Ami Argand in France.

To consider points of detail, the footnotes, references, bibliography and index are all exemplary, while the prices of both editions are entirely reasonable. The statutory reviewer’s gripes are few, and should be taken as constructive suggestions. A glossary of technical terms is provided, but an illustrated appendix devoted to the explanation of lighthouse optics would have been helpful. The lack of a summary list of other institutions holding lighthouse-related material is a significant omission. The selection of a relatively small page size has occasioned the reproduction of some of the illustrations at a size smaller than might be considered desirable; some of the extracts from early charts fall within this category. The lengthy embedded quotations might have been more clearly set in italics or boxed, while the title is so self-restricted as to verge on misleading. Perhaps these points will be addressed in a future second edition.

In sum, this book should be read with pleasure and profit by anybody who is interested in Scottish antiquarianism in its broadest sense, whether or not they have any prior knowledge of the subject. It evidently reflects deep knowledge, widespread interest, and great enthusiasm on the part of the author, and will long remain canonical within the literature of Scottish industrial architecture.