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David BrewsterScottish physicist, mathematician, astronomer, inventor, writer, historian and university chancellor
Date of Birth: 11.12.1781
Country:  Great Britain |
Content:
Biography of David Brewster
Early Life and EducationDavid Brewster was born on December 11, 1781, in Canongate, Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, Scotland. He was the third of six children of Margaret Key and James Brewster, the headmaster of Jedburgh Grammar School. At the age of 12, he enrolled at the University of Edinburgh, where he was being prepared for a career in the clergy. He obtained his Master's degree in 1800.
Scientific Career
Although Brewster officially became a clergyman and served in the Scottish Church, his passion for natural sciences constantly diverted him from direct religious work. In 1799, Henry Brougham convinced Brewster to study the diffraction of light. The results of his research were periodically published in the "Philosophical Transactions" and other scientific journals, and many of Brewster's discoveries gained recognition. In 1807, he earned a Doctor of Laws degree from Marischal College, Aberdeen. In 1815, Brewster was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London and received the Copley Medal. In 1821, he became a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Brewster also made significant contributions as the editor of the "Edinburgh Magazine" since 1799.
Inventions and Contributions
David Brewster is renowned worldwide, not only in scientific circles but also as the inventor of the kaleidoscope and an improved version of the stereoscope, a device for viewing "three-dimensional" photographs. He named the latter the "lenticular stereoscope," which became the first portable device for viewing 3D images. Brewster also invented a binocular camera, two types of polarimeters, a multi-zone lens, and more.
Later Years and Legacy
In 1838, David Brewster was appointed the rector of St Salvator and St Leonard Colleges at the University of St Andrews. In 1849, he became the president of the British Association and, ten years later, the head of the University of Edinburgh. In 1855, the French government honored Brewster by appointing him as an officer of the Legion of Honour. As a devout Christian, Sir Brewster opposed the idea of species transformation and the theory of evolution. In 1845, he wrote a highly critical review of the evolutionary work "Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation," which he considered an insult to Christian revelation and a dangerous example of materialism.
David Brewster was married twice. His first wife, Juliet Macpherson, was the daughter of James Macpherson, famous for his "translations" of Gaelic poems by Ossian. They had four sons and a daughter. Brewster remarried in Nice on March 26 or 27, 1857, to Jane Kirk Purnell. He passed away on February 10, 1868, and was buried next to his first wife and second son. In honor of the physicist, a mineral called Brewsterite and a crater on the Moon were named after him.
