Charles Macintosh’s name has become synonymous with raincoats around the world – garnering a Google Doodle to celebrate his 250th birthday - but did the Scottish scientist really invent the revolutionary garment?

Macintosh is famed for patenting a new kind of waterproof fabric in 1823 that used a layer of liquid rubber sandwiched between two pieces of cloth, replacing the heavy and pungent oiled material donned for centuries.

But five years before he patented his famed process, another Scot had discovered how to make a rubber solution that would repel water.

The best Google Doodles Show all 50 1 /50 The best Google Doodles The best Google Doodles Mister Rogers Google Doodle celebrating children's TV presenter Mister Rogers Google The best Google Doodles Lucy Wills Google Doodle celebrating haematologist Lucy Wills Google The best Google Doodles Falafel Google Doodle celebrating falafel Google The best Google Doodles St George's Day Google Doodle celebrating St George's Day Google The best Google Doodles James Wong Howe Google Doodle celebrating Hollywood golden age cinematographer James Wong Howe Google The best Google Doodles Seiichi Miyake Google Doodle celebrating Seiichi Miyake, developer of tactile paving Google The best Google Doodles Walter Cronkite Google celebrates US broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite's 100th birthday The best Google Doodles Lantern Festival 2016 Google celebrates the last day of the Chinese New Year celebrations with a doodle of the Lantern Festival Google The best Google Doodles Google Doodle celebrating Sergei Diaghilev Google Doodle celebrating art critic Sergei Diaghilev Google The best Google Doodles George Boole Google marks mathematician George Boole's 200th birthday The best Google Doodles Sergei Eisenstein Google Doodle celebrating soviet film director Sergei Eisenstein Google The best Google Doodles 41st anniversary of the discovery of 'Lucy' Google marks the 41st anniversary of the discovery of 'Lucy', the name given to a collection of fossilised bones that once made up the skeleton of a hominid from the Australopithecus afarensis species, who lived in Ethiopia 3.2 million years ago The best Google Doodles Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Google celebrates physician and suffragist Elizabeth Garrett Anderson 180th birthday The best Google Doodles Sir William Henry Perkin Google Doodle celebrating chemist Sir William Henry Perkin Google The best Google Doodles Nelly Sachs Google Doodle celebrating poet and playwright Nelly Sachs Google The best Google Doodles Thanksgiving 2018 Google Doodle celebrating Thanksgiving 2018 Google The best Google Doodles Nigerian Independence Day Google Doodle celebrating Nigerian Independence Day Google The best Google Doodles Mary Prince Google Doodle celebrating abolitionist Mary Prince Google The best Google Doodles Father's Day 2016 Google celebrates Father's Day The best Google Doodles Ebenezer Cobb Morley Google Doodle celebrating "father of football" Ebenezer Cobb Morley Google The best Google Doodles Octavia E Butler Google Doodle celebrating science fiction author Octavia E Butler Google The best Google Doodles Tamara de Lempicka Google Doodle celebrating painter Tamara de Lempicka Google The best Google Doodles Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss Google Doodle celebrating mathematician and physicist Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss Google The best Google Doodles Fanny Blankers-Koen Google Doodle celebrating Dutch Olympic gold medalist Fanny Blankers-Koen Google The best Google Doodles John Harrison Google Doodle celebrating clockmaker John Harrison Google The best Google Doodles Guillermo Haro Google Doodle celebrating astronomer Guillermo Haro Google The best Google Doodles St. David's Day Google Doodle celebrating St. David's Day Google The best Google Doodles Carter G Woodson Google Doodle celebrating Carter G Woodson, a pioneering African-American historian Google The best Google Doodles St Andrew's Day Google Doodle celebrating St Andrew's Day Google The best Google Doodles Gertrude Jekyll Google Doodle celebrating horticulturist Gertrude Jekyll Google The best Google Doodles Children's Day 2017 Google Doodle celebrating Children's Day 2017 Google The best Google Doodles Studio for Electronic Music Google Doodle celebrating the Studio for Electronic Music Google The best Google Doodles Olaudah Equiano Google Doodle celebrating abolitionist Olaudah Equiano Google The best Google Doodles Fridtjof Nansen Google Doodle celebrating Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen Google The best Google Doodles Ladislao José Biro Google celebrates Ladislao José Biro's 117th birthday The best Google Doodles Amalia Hernandez Google Doodle celebrating ballet choreographer Amalia Hernandez Google The best Google Doodles Dr Samuel Johnson Google Doodle celebrating lexicographer Dr Samuel Johnson Google The best Google Doodles British Sign Language Google Doodle celebrating British Sign Language Google The best Google Doodles Eduard Khil Google Doodle celebrating baritone singer Eduard Khil Google The best Google Doodles Fourth of July Google Doodle celebrating Fourth of July Google The best Google Doodles Victor Hugo Google Doodle celebrating author Victor Hugo Google The best Google Doodles Google Doodle celebrating Giro d'Italia's 100th Anniversary Google Doodle celebrating Giro d'Italia's 100th Anniversary Google The best Google Doodles Google Doodle celebrating St. Patrick's Day Google Doodle celebrating St. Patrick's Day Google The best Google Doodles Google Doodle celebrating St. David's Day Google Doodle celebrating St. David's Day Google The best Google Doodles Steve Biko Today's Google Doodle features anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko Google The best Google Doodles The history of tea in Britain Google celebrates the 385th anniversary of tea in the UK The best Google Doodles Nettie Stevens Google celebrates geneticist Nettie Stevens 155th birthday The best Google Doodles William Morris Google celebrates English polymath William Morris' 182 birthday with a doodle showcasing his most famous designs Google The best Google Doodles Professor Scoville Google marks Professor Scoville’s 151st birthday The best Google Doodles Sophie Taeuber-Arp Google marks artist Sophie Taeuber-Arp's 127th birthday

James Syme, a surgeon and chemist based in Edinburgh, had discovered a derivative of coal tar (naphtha) could dissolve rubber and published his findings in Thomson's Annals of Philosophy.

It was the same process used by Macintosh following his own chemistry experiments with waste from Glasgow’s coal-gas works, and it has been claimed that the inventor had read Syme’s work before developing it for his own uses.

While Syme, uninterested in commercial matters, failed to patent his valuable discovery and continued to build a noteworthy career in surgery, Macintosh stamped his name on the idea in June 1823.

His patent, number 4,804, described how to “manufacture for rendering the texture of hemp, flax, wool, cotton, silk, and also leather, paper and other substances impervious to water and air”.

Syme’s paper had not detailed the crucial sandwich-type construction employed by Macintosh, although this too was not completely new.

A photo of James Syme, a Scottish surgeon, taken in around 1855 (Flikr)

Spanish scientists previously used the method to make leak-proof containers for mercury, and renowned British balloonist Charles Green made a balloon envelope that applied the same principle in 1821.

French scientists also made balloons gas-tight and impermeable by impregnating fabric with rubber dissolved in turpentine and the use of rubber to waterproof fabric dates back to the Aztecs, who used natural latex.

But what made Macintosh’s invention revolutionary was its ease of manufacture and wear, seeing him swiftly launching into the production of cloth to be converted into coats and other garments by tailors in Glasgow.

The early versions were far from perfect, becoming stiff in the cold, sticky in the heat, and causing discomfort for wearers by trapping their sweat.

Tailors were initially reluctant to use the problematic fabric, causing Macintosh to set up his own company and move the production of waterproof clothing to Manchester.

An advert for the Macintosh in Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co's 1893 catalogue

As news of his invention spread, the repeated misspelling of the inventor’s name is thought to have popularised the description of the resulting coat as a “Mackintosh” – a name that has stuck to the present day.

In 1830, his company merged with a clothing firm owned by Thomas Hancock, who had been experimenting with rubber-coated fabrics for years.

Macintosh’s new partner patented his own method for vulcanising rubber that ironed out many problems and drove the popularity of raincoats and riding garments later supplied to the British Army, railway workers, police and on the Arctic expedition led by Sir John Franklin in 1924.

Macintosh was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society for his contributions to chemistry and enjoyed considerable success before his death in 1843, aged 76.