THE 'Ayrshire's Famous People' book detailing the county's greatest people is now available online.

And there is a host of inventors, innovators and success stories from our area.

The book comes a few years after the Chronicle and its sister papers ran two supplements detailing dozens of Ayrshire Heroes.

The digital project - created and funded by the Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry - was officially launched by Scots Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop on Friday (April 26).

It's a new bid by the business organisation to capture what makes the area tick - and inspire new generations of innovators.

And at the launch ceremony in Irvine it was revealed it will be published on Glow, the Scottish schools national intranet.

That means all 2800 schools on the system will now get direct access to the 200-page book.

Irvine-born Fiona Hyslop said: "This offers inspiration not only to Ayrshire but to other towns and cities throughout Scotland.

"I am keen to take this concept to West Lothian to tell the story of the constituency I represent.

"But as an Ayrshire lass it's great to see not just Ayr, Irvine and Kilmarnock but places like Muirkirk, Sorn, Dunlop, Auchinleck and New Cumnock all celebrated.

"What a message that can give to this generation about what they can achieve.

"This initiative is about culture and heritage but it is also about who we are and more importantly what we can be." Songstress Eddie Reader, from Irvine, donated five of her hit Burns songs to the project, which as well as featuring sound also boasts video.

The A-list features 96 men and 18 women either Ayrshire-born or principally linked - and 28 people are living.

Each of Ayrshire's 46,250 school children at 26 secondaries and 137 primaries will receive a direct electronic link in three different formats.

At the launch ceremony in Irvine's Menzies Hotel, Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce chief executive Val Russell, said: "This enhances the work we do with schools and in particular the Chamber Youth Academy which provides a direct link to our 800 members.

"We were looking for a way to highlight innovators, entrepreneurs, sports people, arts, music and business and through them raise the aspirations of our young people.

"If a boy from Dreghorn can invent the rubber tyres which we all still use today, and a man who started down the mines aged ten and went on to become the Prime Minister of Australia, then we can all achieve great things." Millionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Tom Hunter, who features in the top 20, added: "You would think one tiny part of Scotland couldn't quite generate the content for a full book of outstanding achievement; but then you'd be wrong.

"It tells a tale not just of the famous but also about the ordinary folk who have accomplished extraordinary things - I hope that trend continues and grows." It's hoped the book could also encourage tourism by inspiring a trail linking those on the list.

And it could be expanded if local people contact the Prestwick-based Chamber with recommendations for new entrants.

Craig Johnstone, boss of the Dundonald-based digital media firm Giglets which produced the book, said: "Children are at the forefront of the iPad and tablet revolution so an ebook was the natural target to reach our audience.

"We've worked on this for four months and I believe we've delivered exciting content and used the latest technology to bring to life Ayrshire's famous characters from down the centuries." *Ayrshire's Famous People can be freely accessed at www.ayrshire-chamber.org Top Twenty: 1. Richard Oswald (1705-1784) Auchincruive (signatory Treaty of Paris) 2. Robert Adam (1728-1792) Culzean (architect) 3. David Dale (1739-1806) Stewarton (cotton Merchant/social visionary) 4. John Loudon MacAdam (1756-1836) Ayr (tarmac inventor) 5. Robert Burns (1759-1796) Alloway (poet) 6. Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane (1773-1860) Largs (governor New South Wales) 7. John Galt (1779-1839) Irvine (novelist) 8. Johnnie Walker (1805-1857) Kilmarnock (whisky tycoon) 9. John Boyd Dunlop (1840-1921) Dreghorn (creator pneumatic tyre) 10. James Kier Hardie (1856-1915) Cumnock (labour party pioneer) 11. Andrew Fisher (1862-1928) Crosshouse (Australian Prime Minister) 12. George Douglas Brown (1869-1902) Ochiltree (novelist) 13. Lord John Boyd Orr (1880-1971) Kilmaurs (biologist) 14. Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) Darvel (discovered penicillin) 15. Bill Shankly (1913-1981) Glenbuck (Liverpool FC manager) 16. Kirsty Wark (1955) Kilmarnock (journalist) 17. Sir Tom Hunter (1961) New Cumnock (tycoon/philanthropist) 18. Graeme Obree (1965) Irvine (cycling champ) 19. Kirsty Hume (1976) Ayr (supermodel) 20. Nicola Benedetti (1987) West Kilbride (classical violinist) Famous Ayrshire People: 1. George Lokert (1485-1547) Ayr (master of logic) 2. James Dalrymple (1619-1695) Barr (philosopher/judge) 3. Alexander Peden (1626-1686) Sorn (covenanter) 4. John Brown (1628-1685) Muirkirk (covenanter) 5. John Snell (1629-1679) Pinwherry (philanthropist) 6. John Dalrymple (1648-1707) Stair (Act of Union statesman) 7. John Dalrymple (1673-1747) Stair (soldier/diplomat) 8. James Macrae (1677- 1744) Ayr (pirate hunter/Madras governor) 9. Lady Margaret Dalrymple (1680-1779)Stair (Countess of Loudoun, gardener) 10. Andrew Michael Ramsay (1686-1743) Ayr (writer/chevalier) 11. Robert Simson (1687-1768) West Kilbride (mathematician) 12. Andrew Cochrane (1693-1777) Ayr (tobacco baron/politician) 13. Sir John Witherspoon (1722-1794) Beith (signatory American Independence) 14. Elizabeth McGuire (1724-1801)Kilmaurs (Countess Glencairn/Burns patron) 15. John Tennant (1725-1810) Alloway (farmer/Burns crony) 16. Barbara Gilmour (Died 1732) Dunlop (cheesmaker) 17. James Boswell (1740-1795) Auchinleck (author) 18. James Hunter Blair (1741-1787) Ayr (politician/banker) 19. John Murdoch (1747-1824) Ayr (teacher to Robert Burns) 20. Gilbert Blane (1749-1834) Kirkoswald (physician to the fleet) 21. Colonel William Fullerton (1754-1808) Troon (soldier/statesman) 22. William Murdoch (1754-1839) Lugar, Cumnock (gas lighting inventor) 23. William Tennant (1758-1813) Ochiltree (chaplain to forces in India) 24. John Tennant (1760-1853) Ayr (farming expert) 25. David Tennant (1762-1839) Ochiltree (sea captain) 26. William McClure (1763-1840) Ayr (geologist/sea mapper) 27. Sir James Shaw (1764-1843) Kilmarnock (Lord Major of London) 28. Charles Tennant (1768-1838) Alloway (bleach pioneer) 29. Ensign Ewart (1769-1846) Kilmarnock (Battle of Waterloo hero) 30. David Boyle (1772-1853) Irvine (advocate/MP) 31. John Piper (1773-1851) Maybole (military officer) 32. Henry Eckford (1775-1832) Kilwinning (US Navy architect) 33. William Gilkison (1777-1833) Irvine (sailor/adventurer) 34. Captain Sandy Allan (1780-1854) Fairlie (shipping magnate) 35. Thomas Morton (1783-1862) Mauchline (barrel loom inventor) 36. John Munn (1788-1859) Irvine (shipbuilder) 37. Rev John Burtt (1789-1866) Kilmarnock (clergyman/poet) 38. Hew Ainslie (1792-1878) Dailly (poet) 39. Betsy Miller (1793-1864) Saltcoast (sea captain) 40. Rev Thomas Burns (1796-1871) Mauchline (New Zealand pioneer) 41. John Fulton (1803-1853) Fenwick (tech instrument maker) 42. James Paterson (1805-1876) Kilmarnock (writer) 43. Lady Flora Hastings (1806-1839) Galston (royal lady-in-waiting) 44. Andrew Barclay (1814-1900) Kilbirnie (locomotive maker) 45. Alexander Macmillan (1818-1896) Irvine (publisher) 46. Sir William Muir (1819-1905) Kilmarnock (Indian governor) 47. James Service (1823-1899) Kilwinning (Australian colonist) 48. William Landsborough (1825-1886) Stevenston (explorer) 49. Robert Dunsmuir (1825-1889) Hurlford (Canadian industrialist) 50. John McIlWraith (1832-1902) Ayr (metal tycoon) 51. Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) Stevenston (visitor/dynamite inventor) 52. Sir Thomas McIlWraith (1835-1900) Ayr (financier/Queensland premier) 53. Sir Robert Murdoch Smith (1835-1900) Kilmarnock (archaeologist) 54. Sir Hugh Muir Nelson (1835-1906) Kilmarnock (Queensland premier) 55. Dr Henry Faulds (1843-1930) Beith (physician/fingerprint pioneer) 56. Alexander Morton (1844-1923) Darvel (lace tycoon) 57. Charles Kerr Marr (1855-1919) Troon (benefactor) 58. Sir John Lavery (1856-1941) Saltcoats (painter) 59. James Morton (1867-1943) Darvel (textile tycoon) 60. Gavin Morton (1867-1954) Darvel (textile designer) 61. Sir James Stevenson (1873-1926) Kilmarnock (Churchill's adviser) 62. Robert William Service (1874-1958) Kilwinning (poet) 63. Eleanor Allen Robertson (1885-1955) Kilmarnock (painter) 64. Sir James Learmonth (1895-1967) Kilmarnock (nerve surgery) 65. David Fowler McIntyre (1905-1957) Prestwick (aviator) 66. Brigadier Bernard Ferguson (1911-1980) (soldier/New Zealand premier) 67. William 'Willie' Ross (1911-1988) Ayr (politician) 68. Robert Colquhoun (1914-1962) Kilmarnock (painter) 69. James H Moffat (1919-1998) Saltcoats (businessman/benefactor) 70. Ally MacLeod (1931-2004) Ayr (football manager) 71. Hugh McIlvanney (1933) Kilmarnock (sports writer) 72. William McIIvanney (1936) Kilmarnock (writer) 73. Stewart Conn (1936) Kilmarnock (poet) 74. Margaret McDowall (1936) Kilmarnock (swimmer) 75. Jan De Vries (1937) Troon (alternative medicine) 76. Gordon Brown (1947-2000) Troon (rugby) 77. Billy Kay (1951) Galston (writer) 78. Alex Neil (1951) Patna (politician) 79. Sam Torrance (1953) Largs (golfer) 80. Janice Galloway (1955) Saltcoats (novelist) 81. Cameron Sharp (1958) Kilmarnock (sprinter) 82. Peter Howson (1958) Prestwick (artist) 83. Roy Aitken (1958) Ardrossan (footballer) 84. Dr James MacMillan (1959) Cumnock (composer) 85. Eddi Reader (1959) Irvine (singer) 86. Jack McConnell (1960) Arran (politiciano) 87. Colin Montgomerie (1963) Troon (golfer) 88. Lorraine McIntosh (1964) Cumnock (singer) 89. Brian Whittle (1964) Troon (sprinter) 90. Fiona Hyslop (1964) Irvine (politician) 91. Rhona Martin (1966) Dunlop (curler) 92. Jackie Brambles (1967) Arran (radio/tv presenter) 93. Nicola Sturgeon (1970) Irvine (politician) 94. Karen Dunbar (1971) Ayr (comic)