On 15 July 1914 Gavin Maxwell, the Scottish novelist and naturalist, was born.

Maxwell was born into a family of minor aristocracy and grew up in rural Wigtownshire, where he acquired a lifelong love of nature. During the war, Maxwell served as a Commando instructor on Arisaig, which fired a love for the Highlands. Following the war he turned to writing, after the failure of a basking shark fishery. He is best known as the author of 'Ring of Bright Water', a touching tale of his attempts to establish an otter sanctuary in Sandaig.

On this day in 1909 William Gemmell Cochran, Scottish mathematician, was born in Rutherglen.

Cochran is highly regarded in the field of statistics, having carried out fundamental work on the design of agricultural experiments, forecasting the effects of weather on crop yields and sample survey design. During the Second World War he worked in America, examining probabilities of hits in naval warfare, and by 1945 he was working on bombing raid strategies.

Today's recipe: a grown up version of a childrens' favourite. Fish fingers and home-cut chips.