Yes, I’ve heard of the book, here’s the summary in case not everybody has:
‘How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It (or The Scottish Enlightenment: The Scots invention of the Modern World) is a non-fiction book written by American historian Arthur Herman. The book examines the origins of the Scottish Enlightenment and what impact it had on the modern world. Herman focuses principally on individuals, presenting their biographies in the context of their individual fields and also in terms of the theme of Scottish contributions to the world.’
I’m not decrying the contribution Scots have made, as per my previous post to the last OTT statement about this, but the statement is plainly ridiculous in the context it was used. Many (most?) nations have made contributions to getting the world to where it is now (not that all contributions are things to be proud of). To me it just weakens any argument when people make over the top claims, why not just have a sensible and reasoned discussion without the hyperbole?