Sir David Brewster

Sir David Brewster (born December 11, 1781, Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, Scotland—died February 10, 1868, Allerby, Melrose, Roxburghshire) was a Scottish physicist noted for his experimental work in optics and polarized light—i.e., light in which all waves lie in the same plane. When light strikes a reflective surface at a certain angle (called the polarizing angle), the reflected light becomes completely polarized. Brewster discovered a simple mathematical relationship between the polarizing angle and the refractive index of the reflective substance. This law is useful in determining the refractive index of materials that are opaque or available only in small samples.

Brewster was educated for the ministry at the University of Edinburgh, but his interest in science deflected him from pursuing this profession. In 1799 he began his investigations of light. His most important studies involved polarization, metallic reflection, and light absorption. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1815, and he invented the kaleidoscope the following year. He was knighted in 1831. In the early 1840s he improved the stereoscope by utilizing lenses to combine the two dissimilar binocular pictures and produce the three-dimensional effect. Brewster was instrumental in persuading the British to adopt the lightweight, flat Fresnel lens for use in lighthouses. In 1838 he became principal of the United College of St. Salvator and St. Leonard of the University of St. Andrews and in 1859 became principal of the University of Edinburgh.

Of Brewster’s numerous published works, his Treatise on Optics (1831) and Memoirs of the Life, Writings and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton (1855) are probably the most important.