From Steuart Campbell
While Alan Pollock is correct in his distinction between the Union Canal and the Forth and Clyde Canal (Letters, 7 May, p 29), he is mistaken about where John Scott Russell saw the soliton wave. Russell saw and followed it on the Union Canal at Hermiston near Edinburgh, where an aqueduct carrying the canal is now named after him. On 12 July 1995, an international gathering of scientists witnessed a recreation of the event (see www.ma.hw.ac.uk/solitons).
Edinburgh, UK
