Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes ProCon History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
Sir David Brewster
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Images
Brewster, Sir David
Quizzes
Michael Faraday (L) English physicist and chemist (electromagnetism) and John Frederic Daniell (R) British chemist and meteorologist who invented the Daniell cell.
Faces of Science
Italian-born physicist Dr. Enrico Fermi draws a diagram at a blackboard with mathematical equations. circa 1950.
Physics and Natural Law
Related Questions
Read Next
Aerial view of Tokyo, Japan at dusk circa 2009. Tokyo Tower (right) located in Shiba Park, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Office buildings, architecture, skyscrapers, skyline.
Is Light Pollution Really Pollution?
Highway Night Traffic Portland, drive, driving, car, automobile.
What's the Difference Between Speed and Velocity?
Light refraction image with a cube. Prism
How Is Light Both a Particle and a Wave?
Hot-air balloon against a sky (clouds, hot air ballooning, recreation)
Why Is the Sky Blue?
Lab mouse using an optogenetics device
Optogenetics: Controlling the Brain with Light
Discover
Thanksgiving Celebration Traditional Dinner Setting Food Concept
Why Is Thanksgiving in the U.S. Celebrated on a Thursday?
New York NY/ USA- November 23, 2018 Hordes of shoppers throng the Macy's Herald Square flagship store in New York looking for bargains on the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday.
Why Is It Called Black Friday?
Santa Claus flying in his sleigh, christmas, reindeer
Was Santa Claus a Real Person?
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. Engraving by Cosomo Colombini (d. 1812) after a Leonardo self portrait. Ca. 1500.
10 Famous Artworks by Leonardo da Vinci
An ancient egyptian hieroglyphic painted carving showing the falcon headed god Horus seated on a throne and holding a golden fly whisk. Before him are the Pharoah Seti and the goddess Isis. Interior wall of the temple to Osiris at Abydos, Egypt.
11 Egyptian Gods and Goddesses
Iraqi Army Soldiers from the 9th Mechanized Division learning to operate and maintain M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks at Besmaya Combat Training Center, Baghdad, Iraq, 2011. Military training. Iraq war. U.S. Army
8 Deadliest Wars of the 21st Century
Super Typhoon Noru over the western tropical Pacific Ocean as observed by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA Aqua satellite July 31 2017
What Is the Difference Between a Typhoon and a Super Typhoon?

Sir David Brewster: Facts & Related Content

verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/facts/David-Brewster
Written and fact-checked by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Born December 11, 1781 • Jedburgh • Scotland
Died February 10, 1868 (aged 86) • Melrose • Scotland
Awards And Honors Copley Medal (1815)
Subjects Of Study Brewster’s law • light • polarization

Photos

Brewster, Sir David
See All Images →
Consider how Isaac Newton's discovery of gravity led to a better understanding of planetary motion
Isaac Newton
English physicist and mathematician
Arago, François
François Arago
French physicist
Fresnel, detail of an engraving by Ambroise Tardieu after a contemporary portrait, 1825
Augustin-Jean Fresnel
French physicist
Edwin Herbert Land
American inventor and physicist
Malus, engraving by A. Tardieu after a painting
Étienne-Louis Malus
French physicist
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
German-American physicist
Helmholtz.
Hermann von Helmholtz
German scientist and philosopher
Lord Rayleigh, engraving by R. Cottot.
Lord Rayleigh
British scientist
James Clerk Maxwell
James Clerk Maxwell
Scottish mathematician and physicist
James David Forbes
Scottish physicist
Ernest Rutherford
Ernest Rutherford
British physicist
P.A.M. Dirac
P.A.M. Dirac
English physicist
Sir William Bragg
Sir William Bragg
British physicist
Peierls, Sir Rudolf Ernst; Dirac, P.A.M.; Pauli, Wolfgang
Sir Rudolf Ernst Peierls
British physicist
Sir Charles Frank
English physicist
Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking
British physicist
Patrick Blackett
British physicist
Sir Horace Lamb.
Sir Horace Lamb
English mathematician
Sydney Chapman
British mathematician and physicist
Kelvin, William Thomson, Baron
William Thomson, Baron Kelvin
Scottish engineer, mathematician, and physicist

Related Quizzes and Features

Quiz
Michael Faraday (L) English physicist and chemist (electromagnetism) and John Frederic Daniell (R) British chemist and meteorologist who invented the Daniell cell.
Faces of Science
Italian-born physicist Dr. Enrico Fermi draws a diagram at a blackboard with mathematical equations. circa 1950.
Physics and Natural Law