This is a list of notable scientists born in Scotland or associated with Scotland, as part of the List of Scots series.
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{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Scientist !! Lifespan !! Primary field !! Note
|-
| Thomas Addison
| 1793-1860
| physician
| nephrology pioneer
|-
| James Edward Tierney Aitchison
| 1836–1898
| botanist
| surgeon; collected plants in India and Afghanistan
|-
| John Aitken
| 1839–1919
| meteorologist, physicist and marine engineer
| inventor of the koniscope, (also known as the Aitken dust counter)
|-
| William Aiton
| 1731–1793
| botanist
|
|-
|Adam Anderson
| 1783–1846
| physicist
|contributor to Edinburgh Encyclopædia and Encyclopædia Britannica
|-
| Alexander Anderson
| 158?–162?
| mathematician
| c. 1582– c. 1620
|-
| John Anderson
| 1833–1900
| zoologist and anatomist
| curator of the Indian Museum
|-
| Thomas Anderson
| 1832–1870
| botanist
| director of the Calcutta Botanic Garden
|-
| William Arthur
| 1894–1979
| mathematician
|
|-
| John Logie Baird
| 1888–1946
| engineer
| television inventor
|-
| William Baird
| 1803–1872
| zoologist
| author of The Natural History of the British Entomostraca
|-
| Thomas Barker
| 1838–1907
| mathematician
| professor of pure mathematics at Owens College
|-
| Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour
| 1853-1922
| botanist
| Sherardian Professor of Botany
|-
| John Hutton Balfour
| 1808–1884
| botanist
|
|-
| John Barclay
| 1758–1826
| anatomist
| donor of the Barclay Collection at Surgeons' Hall, Edinburgh
|-
| Robert Barclay
| d.1973
| statistician
| scholar of Orkney
|-
| James Bassantin
| fl 16th century
| astronomer and mathematician
| author of Astronomique Discours, Lyon, 1557
|-
| Alexander Graham Bell
| 1847–1922
| engineer, scientist
| telephone inventor
|-
| Eric Temple Bell
| 1883–1960
| mathematician
| science fiction writer
|-
| Robert J. T. Bell
| 1876–1963
| mathematician
| Professor of Pure and Applied mathematics at the University of Otago
|-
| James W. Black
| 1924–2010
| physician
| Nobel Prize for Medicine, 1988
|-
| Joseph Black
| 1728–1799
| scientist
| carbon dioxide discoverer
|-
| Robert Blair
| 1748–1828
| astronomer
| inventor of the aplanatic lens
|-
|John Boyd Orr, 1st Baron Boyd-Orr
|1880–1971
|nutritionist
|Nobel Peace Prize winner
|-
| David Brewster
| 1781–1868
| scientist
| Royal Scottish Society of Arts founder
|-
| Thomas Brisbane
| 1773–1860
| astronomer
|
|-
| John Campbell Brown
| 1947-2019
| astronomer
| Investigated Solar physics
|-
| Robert Brown
| 1773–1858
| botanist
| Brownian Motion discoverer
|-
| David Bruce
| 1855–1931
| pathologist, microbiologist
|
|-
| Alexander Buchan
| 1829–1907
| meteorologist, oceanographer and botanist
| established the weather map as the basis of weather forecasting
|-
| Elaine Bullard
| 1915–2011
| self-taught botanist
| Official Recorder of Orkney for the Botanical Society of the British Isles for 46 years
|-
| Malcolm H. Chisholm
| 1945-2015
| Organometallic chemist
| Contributed to the synthesis and structural chemistry of transition metal complexes
|-
| Phillip Clancey
| 1917–2001
| ornithologist
| ornithology pioneer
|-
| A. Catrina Coleman
| born 1956
| physicist: Semiconductor lasers
| Professor at the University of Texas at Dallas
|-
| John Craig
| 1663–1731
| mathematician
| Newton colleague
|-
| James Croll
| 1821–1890
| scientist
| astronomical theory of 19th-century climate change, leading proponent
|-
| Alexander Crum Brown
| 1838–1922
| chemist
| organic chemistry
|-
| William Cullen
| 1710–1790
| physician, chemist
|
|-
| David Cuthbertson
| 1900–1989
| physician, biochemist, medical researcher, nutritionist
| leading authority on metabolism
|-
| James Dewar
| 1842–1923
| physicist
| low temperature, vacuum flask inventor
|-
| George Dickie
| 1812–1882
| botanist
| specialist in algae
|-
| Alexander Dickson
| 1836–1887
| botanist
| morphological botanist
|-
| David Drysdale
| 1877–1946
| mathematician
|
|-
| James Alfred Ewing
| 1855–1935
| physicist, engineer
| discoverer of hysteresis
|-
| William Fairbairn
| 1789–1874
| engineer
| structural
|-
| Hugh Falconer
| 1808–1865
| palaeontologist
|
|-
| James Ferguson
| 1710–1776
| astronomer, instrument maker
|
|-
| Sir Alexander Fleming
| 1881–1955
| microbiologist
| Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1945
|-
| John Fleming
| 1785–1857
| naruralist
| person after whom Fleming Fjord is named
|-
| Williamina Fleming
| 1857–1911
| astronomer
| cataloguing of stars contributor, discoverer of the Horsehead Nebula
|-
| John Flett
| 1869–1947
| geologist
| Director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain
|-
| James David Forbes
| 1809–1868
| physicist, geologist
|
|-
| Professor George Forbes
| 1849–1936
| scientist
| electrical engineering, hydro-electric power generation
|-
| Robert Fortune
| 1813–1880
| botanist
|
|-
| John Fraser
| 1750–1811
| botanist, plant collector
|
|-
| Alexander Garden
| 1730–1791
| physician, botanist and zoologist
| the botanist after whom the genus Gardenia is named
|-
| Patrick Geddes
| 1854–1932
| biologist
| urban theorist
|-
| Archibald Geikie
| 1835–1924
| geologist
| the geologist after whom Dorsa Geikie on the moon; Geikie Gorge in Australia; Mount Geikie in Canada; Mount Geikie in Wyoming; Geikie Peak in Arizona; the Geikie Slide in the Atlantic Ocean; and the mineral Geikielite are named
|-
| Alexander Gibson
| 1800–1867
| botanist
| worked on forest conservation in India
|-
| Sir David Gill
| 1843–1914
| astronomer
| astrophotography pioneer
|-
| John Goodsir
| 1814–1867
| anatomist
| pioneer in the study of the cell
|-
| Isabella Gordon
| 1901–1978
| zoologist
| carcinologist
|-
| Robert Graham
| 1786–1845
| botanist
| Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
|-
| Thomas Graham
| 1805–1869
| chemist
| discovered dialysis
|-
| Robert Edmond Grant
| 1793–1874
| biologist
| Swiney lecturer in geology to the British Museum
|-
| Marion Cameron Gray
| 1902–1979
| mathematician
| discovered Gray graph
|-
| David Gregory
| 1659–1708
| astronomer, mathematician
| Savilian Professor of Astronomy
|-
| Duncan Farquharson Gregory
| 1813–1844
| mathematician
| also worked in chemistry and physics
|-
| James Gregory
| 1638–1675
| astronomer, mathematician
| Gregorian reflecting telescope, first described, Robert Hooke later built
|-
| James Gregory
| 1832–1899
| mineralogist
| believed claims of diamond discoveries in South Africa were false
|-
| William Gregory
| 1803–1858
| mineralogist
|
|-
| James Hall
| 1761–1832
| geologist
|
|-
| M R Henderson
| 1899–1982
| botanist
|
|-
| Thomas Henderson
| 1798–1844
| astronomer
| Alpha Centauri, first measured distance
|-
| John Hope
| 1725–1786
| botanist
| botanist who had genus Hopea named after him
|-
| Thomas Charles Hope
| 1766–1844
| chemist and physician
| discoverer of strontium
|-
| James Hutton
| 1726–1797
| geologist
| scientific basis of geology established
|-
| Ninian Imrie of Denmuir
| c.1750–1820
| geologist
| Provided the first geological description of the Rock of Gibraltar
|-
| Robert T. A. Innes
| 1861–1933
| astronomer
| Proxima Centauri discoverer
|-
| James Ivory
| 1765–1842
| mathematician
|
|-
| William Jardine
| 1800–1874
| naturalist
|
|-
| George Johnston
| 1800–1874
| naturalist
| also physician and mayor of Berwick
|-
| Henry Halcro Johnston
| 1856–1939
| botanist
| also army surgeon and rugby union international
|-
| John Keill
| 1671–1721
| mathematician and astronomer
| disciple and defender of Isaac Newton, Savilian Professor of Astronomy
|-
| John Kerr
| 1824–1907
| physicist
| electro-optics pioneer, discovery of Kerr effect
|-
| Alexander King
| 1909–2007
| chemist
| co-founder of the Club of Rome and pioneer of sustainable development
|-
| Norman Boyd Kinnear
| 1882–1957
| zoologist
|
|-
| Cargill Gilston Knott
| 1856–1922
| physicist and mathematician
| pioneer in seismology
|-
| Johann von Lamont
| 1805–1879
| astronomer
| Uranus and Saturn moon orbits calculated
|-
| Arthur Pillans Laurie
| 1861–1949
| chemist
| pioneered scientific analysis of paint
|-
| Malcolm Laurie
| 1866–1932
| zoologist
| specialist in arachnids, especially scorpions
|-
| John Leslie
| 1766–1832
| mathematician, physicist
| heat research
|-
| Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister
| 1827–1912
| surgeon
| Antiseptic surgery introduced, eponymous Listerine
|-
| William Lochead
| c.1753–1815
| botanist
| surgeon, curator of the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Botanic Gardens
|-
| Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet
| 1797–1875
| geologist, lawyer
| geology pioneer, (British), foremost of his day
|-
| John Macadam
| 1827–1865
| botanist
| (Scottish-born Australian)
|-
| William McNab
| 1844–1889
| botanist
| physician
|-
| William MacGillivray
| 1796–1852
| naturalist
|
|-
| Sheila Scott Macintyre
| 1910–1960
| mathematician
|
|-
| Colin Maclaurin
| 1698–1746
| mathematician
| Maclaurin series developer
|-
| Anna MacGillivray Macleod
| 1917–2004
| botanist, biochemist,
| professor of brewing
|-
| John Macleod
| 1876–1935
| biochemist, physiologist
| Nobel Prize laureate, 1923
|-
| John George Macleod
| 1915–2006
| physician
| author of medical books
|-
|William Maclure
| 1760–1843
| geologist
|
|-
|Sheina Marshall
|1896–1977
|marine biologist
|
|-
| Francis Masson
| 1741–180?
| botanist
| 1741– c. 1805
|-
| James Clerk Maxwell
| 1831–1879
| scientist
| thermodynamics, electromagnetics theorist
|-
| Anderson Gray McKendrick
| 1876–1943
| physician, epidemiologist
| pioneer of the use of mathematical methods in epidemiology
|-
| John Gray McKendrick
| 1841–1926
| physiologist
|
|-
| Archibald Menzies
| 1754–1852
| botanist, explorer
|
|-
| Philip Miller
| 1691–1771
| botanist
|
|-
| Roderick Murchison
| 1792–1871
| geologist
| Silurian period first described, investigated
|-
| Alexander Murray
| 1810–1884
| geologist
|
|-
| James Napier
| 1810–1884
| chemist
| antiquarian
|-
| John Napier
| 1550–1617
| mathematician
| logarithms
|-
| Sir Andrew Noble
| 1831–1915)
| physicist
| Ballistics and Gunnery
|-
| William Robert Ogilvie-Grant
| 1863–1924
| ornithologist
|
|-
| Thomas Stewart Patterson
| 1872–1949
| organic chemist
| stereochemistry
|-
| James Bell Pettigrew
| 1834–1908
| naturalist
| Croonian Lecturer; authority on animal locomotion
|-
| John Playfair
| 1748-1819
| Natural philosophy
| Playfair's axiom; Playfair's law
|-
| Sir William Ramsay
| 1852–1916
| chemist
| Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1904
|-
| William John Macquorn Rankine
| 1820–1872
| engineer, physicist
| Rankine thermodynamic scale (absolute temperature), proposer
|-
| John Richardson
| 1787–1865
| naturalist
|
|-
| Marjorie Ritchie
| 1948–2015
| animal researcher
| part of the team who first cloned a mammal (Dolly the sheep) from an adult cell
|-
| Muriel Robertson
| 1883–1973
| protozoologist and bacteriologist
| Made key discoveries of the life cycle of trypanosomes
|-
| William Roxburgh
| 1759–1815
| botanist
|
|-
| John Scott Russell
| 1808–1882
| civil engineer, naval architect
| solitons
|-
| Daniel Rutherford
| 1749–1819
| chemist
| nitrogen element discoverer
|-
| John Scouler
| 1804–1871
| naturalist
| Enicurus scouleri is named after Scouler
|-
| Sir James Young Simpson
| 1811–1870
| physician
| anaesthetic chloroform discoverer, midwifery pioneer
|-
| Sir James Ferguson Skea
| Born 1953
| climatology
| Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change from 2023
|-
| Andrew Smith
| 1797–1872
| zoologist
|
|-
| Charles Piazzi Smyth
| 1819–1900
| astronomer
| Astronomer Royal for Scotland
|-
| Robert Angus Smith
| 1817–1884
| chemist
| environmental chemistry, acid rain, discoverer
|-
| Mary Somerville
| 1780–1872
| mathematician, astronomer
|
|-
| Matthew Stewart
| 1717–1785
| mathematician
|
|-
| James Stirling
| 1692–1770
| mathematician
|
|-
| Robert Stirling
| 1790–1878
| engineer, clergyman
| inventor of the Stirling engine
|-
| John Struthers
| 1823–1899
| anatomist
|
|-
| Peter Guthrie Tait
| 1831–1901
| mathematical physicist
| proposer of the Tait conjectures in Knot theory
|-
| Thomas Telford
| 1757–1834
| engineer, architect
| civil engineer, canal builder
|-
| D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson
| 1860–1948
| biologist and mathematician
| author of On Growth and Form
|-
| Charles Wyville Thomson
| 1830–1882
| marine zoologist
| chief scientist on the Challenger expedition
|-
| Thomas Thomson
| 1817–1878
| botanist
| Superintendent of the Honourable East India Company's Botanic Garden at Calcutta
|-
| William Thomson, Lord Kelvin
| 1824–1907
| mathematician, physicist, engineer
|
|-
| James Wallace
| 1684–1724
| botanist
| participated in the Darien Scheme, and obtained plants from that area
|-
| James Watt
| 1736–1819
| mathematician, engineer
| steam engine improvements contributed key stage in the Industrial Revolution
|-
| Robert Watson-Watt
| 1892–1973
| scientist
| radar inventor
|-
| Joseph Wedderburn
| 1882–1948
| mathematician
|
|-
| Thomas Webster
| 1773–1844
| geologist
| geologist who had websterite, now normally called aluminite, named after him
|-
| Alexander Wilson
| 1714–1786
| astronomer and meteorologist
| also surgeon, type-founder, and mathematician; the first scientist to record the use of kites in meteorological investigations
|-
| Alexander Wilson
| 1766–1813
| ornithologist
| ornithology pioneer pre-Audubon (American)
|-
| Charles Wilson
| 1869–1959
| physicist
| cloud chamber inventor
|-
| James Wilson
| 1795–1856
| zoologist
| contributor to Encyclopædia Britannica
|-
| Patrick Wilson
| 1743–1811
| astronomer
| type-founder, mathematician and meteorologist
|-
| Thomas Wright
| 1809–1884
| geologist
| also physician
|-
| William Wright
| 1735–1819
| botanist
| botanist who had genera Wrightia and Wrightea named after him
|-
| James 'Paraffin' Young
| 1811–1883
| chemist
|
|-
| Dr William Alexander Young
| 1889–1928
| physician, yellow fever researcher
| posthumously awarded the Médaille des Épidémies du ministère de la France d'outre-mer, 1929
|-
| Udny Yule
| 1871–1951
| statistician
| Yule–Simon distribution
|-
| Andrew White Young
| 1891–1968
| mathematician
| researched temperature seiches in Loch Earn and presented on Mathieu function and Lagrange polynomials
|}