View source for David Brewster

{{Short description|British astronomer and mathematician (1781–1868)}}
{{other people}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = 
| name                = Sir David Brewster
| honorific-suffix    = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KH|PRSE|FRS|FSA Scot|FRSSA|MICE}}
| image               = David Brewster 1618.jpg
| caption             = Brewster, c. 1824
| birth_date          = 11 December 1781
| birth_place         = Canongate, [[Jedburgh]], [[Roxburghshire]], Kingdom of Great Britain
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1868|2|10|1781|12|11}}
| death_place         = Allerly House, [[Gattonside]], Roxburghshire, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
| title1              = [[List of Principals of the University of Edinburgh|Principal of the University of Edinburgh]]
| term_start1         = 1859
| term_end1           = 1868
| predecessor1        = [[John Lee (university principal)|John Lee]]
| successor1          = [[Sir Alexander Grant, 10th Baronet|Sir Alexander Grant]]
| title2              = 1st [[Principal of the University of St Andrews]]
| term_start2         = 1837
| term_end2           = 1859
| predecessor2        = 
| successor2          = [[John Tulloch|Reverend John Tulloch]]
| module              = {{Infobox scientist
| embed             = yes
| field             = [[Physics]], [[mathematics]], [[astronomy]]
| work_institutions = 
| alma_mater        = [[University of Edinburgh]]
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| doctoral_students = 
| known_for         = [[Brewster's angle]]<br>[[Brewsterite]]<br>[[Edge tessellation]]<br>[[Kaleidoscope]]<br>[[Optical mineralogy]]<br>[[Photoelasticity]]<br>[[Physical optics]]<br>[[Polarized light microscopy]]<br>[[Purple fringing]]<br>[[Spirit photography]]<br>[[Stereoscope]]
| author_abbrev_bot = 
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
| spouse            = {{plain list|
* {{marriage|Juliet Macpherson|1810|1850|reason=died}}
* {{marriage|Jane Kirk Purnell|1857}} }}
| children          = 5
| prizes            = [[Copley Medal]] (1815)<br>[[Keith Prize]] (1827–29, 1829–31)<br>[[Royal Medal]] (1830)<br>[[List of recipients of the Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts|Pour le Mérite]] (1847)
| footnotes         = Founding Director of the [[Scottish Society of Arts]] (1821)
| signature         =  
}}
}}
'''Sir David Brewster''' <small>[[Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order|KH]] [[President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh|PRSE]] [[Fellow of the Royal Society of London|FRS]] [[Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland|FSA Scot]] [[Fellow of the Scottish Society of Arts|FSSA]] [[Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers|MICE]]</small> (11 December 1781{{snd}}10 February 1868) was a British scientist, inventor, author, and academic administrator. In science he is principally remembered for his experimental work in [[physical optics]], mostly concerned with the study of the [[Polarization (waves)|polarization]] of light and including the discovery of [[Brewster's angle]]. He studied the [[birefringence]] of crystals under compression and discovered [[photoelasticity]],<ref>Thomas J. Bress (2009), "The Influence of Processing and Fluid Parameters on Injection Molding Flow". University of Michigan. {{ISBN|1-109-11089-8}}. p. 14.</ref> thereby creating the field of [[optical mineralogy]].<ref name=odnb>A. D. Morrison-Low (2004) "Brewster, Sir David (1781–1868)" in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' {{doi|10.1093/ref:odnb/3371}}</ref> For this work, [[William Whewell]] dubbed him the "father of modern experimental optics" and "the [[Johannes Kepler]] of optics."<ref>William Whewell (1859) [https://archive.org/details/historyinductiv02whewgoog ''History of the Inductive Sciences'']. D. Appleton. p. 133</ref>

Brewster was a pioneer in photography. He invented an improved [[stereoscope]],<ref>John Werge (1890). [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38866/38866-h/38866-h.htm ''The Evolution of Photography'']. Piper and Carter</ref> which he called "lenticular stereoscope" and which became the first portable 3D-viewing device.<ref>International Stereoscopic Union (2006) "Stereoscopy", Numbers 65–72, p. 18. "In 1849 Scottish scientist Sir David Brewster invents the lenticular stereoscope, the first practical, portable, 3D viewing device. This stereoscope used refractive lenses and began the protocol of having the stereo pairs mounted side by side."</ref> He also invented the [[Stereo camera|stereoscopic camera]],<ref>[http://historiccamera.com/cgi-bin/librarium2/pm.cgi?action=app_display&app=datasheet&app_id=1703& Sir David Brewster]. historiccamera.com</ref><ref>Thomas L. Hankins, Robert J. Silverman (1995) ''Instruments and the Imagination''. Prinston University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-691-60645-3}}. p. 157</ref> two types of [[polarimeter]]s,<ref>Walter G. Egan, Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers (1992), "Polarization and remote sensing: 22–23 July 1992", p. 225</ref> the polyzonal lens, the lighthouse illuminator,<ref>{{cite web|title=Sir David Brewster – Brewster Kaleidoscope Society|url=https://brewstersociety.com/kaleidoscope-university/sir-david-brewster/|website=Brewster Kaleidoscope Society}}</ref> and the [[kaleidoscope]].

Brewster was a devout [[Presbyterian]] and marched arm-in-arm with his brother during the events of the [[Disruption of 1843]], which led to the formation of the [[Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900)|Free Church of Scotland]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wylie |first1=James Aitken |title=Disruption worthies : a memorial of 1843, with an historical sketch of the free church of Scotland from 1843 down to the present time |date=1881 |publisher=T. C. Jack |location=Edinburgh |pages=59–64 |url=https://archive.org/stream/disruptionworthi00wyli#page/n201 |access-date=18 August 2018}}</ref> As a historian of science, Brewster focused on the life and work of his hero, [[Isaac Newton]].  Brewster published a detailed biography of Newton in 1831 and later became the first scientific historian to examine many of the papers in Newton's ''[[Nachlass]]'' (scholarly papers).  Brewster also wrote numerous works of [[popularization of science|popular science]],<ref>In the words of the ''Round Table'' Journal (1868): "Sir David Brewster...did more, probably, than has been done by any other one man for the popularization of science." H. E. and C. H. Sweeter, p. 124</ref> and was one of the founders of the [[British Science Association]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://baas.research.glam.ac.uk/baas-history.php |title=The BAAS: Origins and Beginnings |access-date=2014-01-16 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212134252/http://baas.research.glam.ac.uk/baas-history.php |archive-date=12 December 2013 }}. baas.research.glam.ac.uk</ref><ref>[http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/timeline/people/brewster.html Science, Optics & You, Pioneers in Optics: "Sir David Brewster"], [[Florida State University]]</ref> of which he was elected president in 1849.  He became the public face of higher education in Scotland, serving as [[Principal (academia)|Principal]] of the [[University of St Andrews]] (1837–1859) and later of the [[University of Edinburgh]] (1859–1868). Brewster also edited the 18-volume ''[[Edinburgh Encyclopædia]]''.

==Life==
David Brewster was born in the Canongate in [[Jedburgh]], [[Roxburghshire]], to Margaret Key (1753–1790) and James Brewster (c. 1735–1815), the [[Rector (education)|rector]] of [[Jedburgh Grammar School]] and a teacher of high reputation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gordon |first1=Margaret Maria |title=The home life of Sir David Brewster |date=1881 |publisher=D. Douglas |location=Edinburgh |edition=3rd |url=https://archive.org/stream/homelifeofsirdav00gord#page/n5 |access-date=18 August 2018}}</ref> David was the third of six children, two daughters and four sons: James (1777–1847), minister at Craig, Ferryden; David; George (1784–1855), minister at Scoonie, Fife; and Patrick (1788–1859), minister at the abbey church, Paisley.<ref name=odnb/>

At the age of 12, David Brewster matriculated at the [[University of Edinburgh]] with the intention of becoming a clergyman.  He received his [[MA (Scotland)|MA]] in 1800, was licensed as a [[Ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland|minister of the Church of Scotland]], and then preached around Edinburgh on several occasions.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wylie |first1=James Aitken |title=Disruption worthies : a memorial of 1843, with an historical sketch of the free church of Scotland from 1843 down to the present time |date=1881 |publisher=T. C. Jack |location=Edinburgh |pages=59–64 |url=https://archive.org/stream/disruptionworthi00wyli#page/n201 |access-date=18 August 2018}}</ref> By then, Brewster had already shown a strong inclination for the [[natural science]]s and had established a close association with [[James Veitch (minister)|James Veitch]] of [[Jedburgh|Inchbonny]]. Veitch, who enjoyed a local reputation as a man of science and was particularly skilled in making [[telescope]]s, was characterized by Sir [[Walter Scott]] as a "[[self-taught]] philosopher, [[astronomer]] and [[mathematician]]".{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Brewster is buried in the grounds of [[Melrose Abbey]], in [[Roxburghshire]].

==Career==

===Work on optics===
Though Brewster duly finished his [[theology|theological]] studies and was licensed to preach, his other interests distracted him from the duties of his profession. In 1799 fellow-student [[Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux|Henry Brougham]] persuaded him to study the [[diffraction]] of light. The results of his investigations were communicated from time to time in papers to the ''[[Philosophical Transactions]]'' of London and other scientific journals. The fact that other scientists – notably [[Étienne-Louis Malus]] and [[Augustin Fresnel]] – were pursuing the same investigations contemporaneously in France does not invalidate Brewster's claim to independent discovery, even though in one or two cases the priority must be assigned to others.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} A lesser-known classmate of his, [[Thomas Dick (scientist)|Thomas Dick]], also went on to become a popular astronomical writer.

The most important subjects of his inquiries can be enumerated under the following five headings:
#The laws of [[light polarization]] by [[Reflection (physics)|reflection]] and [[refraction]], and other quantitative laws of phenomena;
#The discovery of the polarising structure induced by heat and [[pressure]];
#The discovery of crystals with two axes of double refraction, and many of the laws of their phenomena, including the connection between optical structure and crystalline forms;
#The laws of metallic reflection;
#Experiments on the absorption of light.

In this line of investigation, the prime importance belongs to the discovery of
#the connection between the refractive index and the polarizing angle;
#biaxial crystals, and
#the production of double refraction by irregular heating.

These discoveries were promptly recognised. As early as 1807 the degree of [[Legum Doctor|LL.D.]] was conferred upon Brewster by [[Marischal College]], [[Aberdeen, Scotland|Aberdeen]]; in 1815 he was elected a Fellow of the [[Royal Society|Royal Society of London]], and received the [[Copley Medal]]; and in 1816 the [[French Institute]] awarded him one-half of the prize of three thousand francs for the two most important discoveries in physical science made in Europe during the two preceding years.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} In 1821, he was made a foreign member of the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]], and in 1822 a Foreign Honorary Member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]].<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter B|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterB.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060618085806/http://amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterB.pdf |archive-date=2006-06-18 |url-status=live|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=9 September 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Brewster cigar box.jpg|thumb|Inner picture of a cigar box from the early 1900s with a portrait of Brewster.]]
Among the non-scientific public, his fame spread more effectually by his invention in about 1815 of the [[kaleidoscope]], for which there was a great demand in both the United Kingdom, France, and the United States.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} As a reflection of this fame, Brewster's portrait was later printed in some cigar boxes. Brewster chose renowned [[achromatic lens]] developer [[Carpenter and Westley|Philip Carpenter]] as the sole manufacturer of the kaleidoscope in 1817. Although Brewster patented the kaleidoscope in 1817 (GB 4136),<ref>[http://www.ssplprints.com/image/100297/brewsters-patent-kaleidoscope-c-1817 Brewster's patent kaleidoscope, c 1817.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030185833/https://www.ssplprints.com/image/100297/brewsters-patent-kaleidoscope-c-1817 |date=30 October 2020 }} ssplprints.com</ref><ref>[http://www.brewstersociety.com/brewster_patent.pdf PDF copy of the Brewster Patent GB 4136] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721020838/http://www.brewstersociety.com/brewster_patent.pdf |date=21 July 2011 }}</ref> a copy of the prototype was shown to London opticians and copied before the patent was granted. As a consequence, the kaleidoscope became produced in large numbers, but yielded no direct financial benefits to Brewster.<ref>Gordon, p. 54</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Myles W. Jackson|title=Spectrum of belief: Joseph von Fraunhofer and the craft of precision optics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VJ6SE3sbxDsC&pg=PA119|year=2000|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=978-0-262-10084-7|page=119}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Polar star, being a continuation of 'The Extractor', of entertainment and popular science|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MpYEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA202|year=1831|page=202}}</ref> It proved to be a massive success with two hundred thousand kaleidoscopes sold in London and Paris in just three months.<ref name="vms">[http://www.victorianmicroscopeslides.com/pdf/pcarpenter.pdf The Perfectionist Projectionist] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007153815/http://www.victorianmicroscopeslides.com/pdf/pcarpenter.pdf |date=7 October 2011 }}, Victorian Microscope Slides. Accessed 1 August 2011</ref>

[[File:PSM V21 D055 The brewster stereoscope 1849.jpg|thumb|The Brewster stereoscope, 1849.]]
An instrument of more significance, the [[stereoscope]], which – though of much later date (1849) – along with the kaleidoscope did more than anything else to popularise his name, was not as has often been asserted the invention of Brewster. Sir [[Charles Wheatstone]] discovered its principle and applied it as early as 1838 to the construction of a cumbersome but effective instrument, in which the binocular pictures were made to combine by means of [[mirror]]s.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} A dogged rival of Wheatstone's, Brewster was unwilling to credit him with the invention, however, and proposed that the true author of the stereoscope was a Mr. Elliot, a "Teacher of Mathematics" from Edinburgh, who, according to Brewster, had conceived of the principles as early as 1823 and had constructed a lensless and mirrorless prototype in 1839, through which one could view drawn landscape transparencies, since photography had yet to be invented.<ref>{{cite book|last=Zone|first=Ray|title=Stereoscopic Cinema and the Origins of 3-D Film, 1838–1952|year=2007|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|location=Lexington|isbn=978-0-8131-2461-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/stereoscopiccine0000zone/page/9 9]–10|url=https://archive.org/details/stereoscopiccine0000zone|url-access=registration|quote=mr. elliot stereoscope brewster.}}</ref> Brewster's personal contribution was the suggestion to use [[Prism (optics)|prisms]] for uniting the dissimilar pictures; and accordingly the lenticular stereoscope may fairly be said to be his invention.

A much more valuable and practical result of Brewster's optical researches was the improvement of the British [[lighthouse]] system. Although Fresnel, who had also the satisfaction of being the first to put it into operation, perfected the [[Dioptrics|dioptric]] apparatus independently, Brewster was active earlier in the field than Fresnel, describing the dioptric apparatus in 1812. Brewster pressed its adoption on those in authority at least as early as 1820, two years before Fresnel suggested it, and it was finally introduced into lighthouses mainly through Brewster's persistent efforts.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

===Other work===
[[File:Brewster, David – Treatise on new philosophical instruments for various purposes in the arts and sciences, 1813 – BEIC 756678.jpg|thumb|''Treatise on new philosophical instruments for various purposes in the arts and sciences'', 1813]]

Although Brewster's own discoveries were important, they were not his only service to science. He began writing in 1799 as a regular contributor to the ''[[Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany|Edinburgh Magazine]]'',<ref name="Maria)1870">{{cite book|author=afterwards GORDON BREWSTER (Margaret Maria)|title=The Home Life of Sir David Brewster. By his daughter. With a portrait|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZadcAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA46|year=1870|publisher=Edmonston & Douglas|page=46}}</ref> of which he acted as editor 1802–1803 at the age of twenty.<ref name="MorganHohlfeld1959">{{cite book|author1=Bayard Quincy Morgan|author2=Alexander Rudolf Hohlfeld|title=German Literature in British Magazines, 1750–1860|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WVUP8ozExswC|year=1959|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|quote=Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany ... 1785.  ... Merged with Scots Magazine in 1804. Ed. by James Sibbald till 1792; by Robert Anderson till 1802; by Sir David Brewster till 1803.}}</ref> In 1807, he undertook the editorship of the newly projected ''[[Edinburgh Encyclopædia]]'', of which the first part appeared in 1808, and the last not until 1830. The work was strongest in the scientific department, and many of its most valuable articles were from the pen of the editor. At a later period he was one of the leading contributors to the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' (seventh and eighth editions) writing, among others, the articles on electricity, [[hydrodynamics]], [[magnetism]], [[microscope]], [[optics]], [[stereoscope]], and [[voltaic electricity]].  He was elected a member of the [[American Antiquarian Society]] in 1816.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.americanantiquarian.org/memberlistb| title = American Antiquarian Society Members Directory}}</ref>

In 1819 Brewster undertook further editorial work by establishing, in conjunction with [[Robert Jameson]] (1774–1854), the ''[[Edinburgh Philosophical Journal]]'', which took the place of the ''Edinburgh Magazine''. The first ten volumes (1819–1824) were published under the joint editorship of Brewster and Jameson, the remaining four volumes (1825–1826) being edited by Jameson alone. After parting company with Jameson, Brewster started the ''[[Edinburgh Journal of Science]]'' in 1824, 16 volumes of which appeared under his editorship during the years 1824–1832, with very many articles from his own pen.

He contributed around three hundred papers<ref name=odnb/> to the transactions of various learned societies, and few of his contemporaries wrote as much for the various reviews. In the ''[[North British Review]]'' alone, seventy-five articles of his appeared. A list of his larger separate works will be found below. Special mention, however, must be made of the most important of them all: his biography of Sir [[Isaac Newton]]. In 1831 he published the ''Life of Sir Isaac Newton'',<ref>Sir David Brewster, ''Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=B5IfAQAAMAAJ Vol. 1], Preface</ref> a short popular account of the philosopher's life, in ''[[Murray's Family Library]]'', followed by an 1832 American edition in Harper's Family Library;<ref>''[https://archive.org/details/lifesirisaacnew01brewgoog The Life of Sir Isaac Newton]'' (1832) Harper's Family Library, New York, No. 26.</ref> but it was not until 1855 that he was able to issue the much fuller ''Memoirs of the Life, Writings and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton'', a work which embodied the results of more than 20 years' investigation of original manuscripts and other available sources.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1 |wstitle=Brewster, Sir David|volume=4 |pages=513–514}}</ref><ref>"Discovery of gravitation, A.D. 1666" by Sir David Brewster, in ''The Great Events by Famous Historians'', Rossiter Johnson, LL.D. Editor-in-Chief, Volume XII, pp. 51–65, ''The National Alumni'', 1905.</ref>

Brewster's position as editor brought him into frequent contact with the most eminent scientific men, and he was naturally among the first to recognise the benefit that would accrue from regular communication among those in the field of science. In a review of [[Charles Babbage]]'s book ''Decline of Science in England'' in ''[[Quarterly Review|John Murray's Quarterly Review]]'', he suggested the creation of "an association of our nobility, clergy, gentry and philosophers".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=nlUAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA341 Reflexions on the Decline of Science in England, and on some of its Causes], ''Quarterly Review'', Vol. 43, Nr. 86 (October 1830)</ref> This was taken up by various ''Declinarians'' and found speedy realisation in the [[British Association for the Advancement of Science]]. Its first meeting was held at [[York]] in 1831; and Brewster, along with Babbage and Sir [[John Herschel]], had the chief part in shaping its constitution.<ref name="EB1911"/>

In the same year in which the British Association held its first meeting, Brewster received the honour of knighthood and the decoration of the [[Royal Guelphic Order]]. In 1838, he was appointed Principal of the united colleges of St Salvator and St Leonard, [[University of St Andrews]]. In 1849, he acted as president of the British Association and was elected one of the eight foreign associates of the [[Institute of France]] in succession to [[Jöns Jakob Berzelius|J. J. Berzelius]]; and ten years later, he accepted the office of principal of the University of Edinburgh, the duties of which he discharged until within a few months of his death.<ref name="EB1911"/> In 1855, the government of France made him an [[Officier de la Légion d'honneur]].

He was a close friend of [[William Henry Fox Talbot]], inventor of the [[calotype]] process, who sent Brewster early examples of his work. It was Brewster who suggested Talbot only patent his process in England, initiating the development of early photography in Scotland and eventually allowing for the formation of the first photographic society in the world, the [[Edinburgh Calotype Club]], in 1843.<ref name=odnb /> Brewster was a prominent member of the club until its dissolution sometime in the mid-1850s; however, his interest in photography continued, and he was elected the first President of the [[Photographic Society of Scotland]] when it was founded in 1856.<ref>{{cite book|title=The British Journal of Photography|volume=XXI|publisher=Henry Greenwood|location=London|page=385|url=https://archive.org/stream/britishjournalp01socigoog#page/n395/mode/2up|editor=J. T. Taylor|display-editors=etal|access-date=2 November 2013}}</ref>

Of a high-strung and nervous temperament, Brewster was somewhat irritable in matters of controversy; but he was repeatedly subjected to serious provocation. He was a man of highly honourable and fervently religious character. In estimating his place among scientific discoverers, the chief thing to be borne in mind is that his genius was not characteristically mathematical. His method was empirical, and the laws that he established were generally the result of repeated experiment. To the ultimate explanation of the phenomena with which he dealt he contributed nothing, and it is noteworthy although he did not maintain to the end of his life the corpuscular theory he never explicitly adopted the wave theory of light. Few would dispute the verdict of [[James David Forbes]], an editor of the eighth edition of the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'': "His scientific glory is different in kind from that of [[Thomas Young (scientist)|Young]] and Fresnel; but the discoverer of the law of polarization of biaxial crystals, of optical mineralogy, and of double refraction by compression, will always occupy a foremost rank in the intellectual history of the age." In addition to the various works of Brewster already mentioned, the following may be added: ''Notes and Introduction to Carlyle's translation of Legendre's Elements of Geometry'' (1824); ''Treatise on Optics'' (1831); [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/general.29167.1 '' Letters on Natural Magic'', addressed to Sir Walter Scott (1832)] ''The Martyrs of Science, or the Lives of Galileo, Tycho Brahe, and Kepler'' (1841); ''More Worlds than One'' (1854).<ref name="EB1911"/>

In his ''Treatise'' he demonstrated that vegetal colors were related with the [[absorption spectra]]<ref>{{cite book |author1=[[Charles R. Cross (physicist)|Charles Robert Cross]] (1848–1921, ed) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=07cWAQAAIAAJ |title=Year-book of Facts in Science and Art |author2=William Ripley Nichols |author3=John Trowbridge (1843–1923, ed) |author4=Samuel Kneeland |author5=George Bliss |author6=David Ames Wells |year=1854 |quote=Sir David Brewster had several years before discovered a remarkable phenomenon in an alcoholic solution of the green coloring matter of leaves, or, as it is called by chemists, chlorophyll}}</ref> and he described for the first time the red fluorescence of [[chlorophyll]].

===History of Scottish Freemasonry===
As well as his many scientific works and biographies of notable scientists, Brewster also wrote ''The History of Free Masonry, Drawn from Authentic Sources of Information; with an Account of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, from Its Institution in 1736, to the Present Time'',<ref>{{cite book |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009710912 |title=The history of freemasonry, drawn from authentic sources of information; with an account of the Grand lodge of Scotland, from its institution in 1736, to the present time, compiled from the records; and an appendix of original papers. |last=Brewster |first=David |year=1804 |location=Edinburgh |publisher=A. Lawrie and Co.}}</ref> published in 1804, when he was only 23. The work was commissioned by Alexander Lawrie, publisher to the [[Grand Lodge of Scotland]], to whom the work has been, frequently, mis-attributed. Given that the book bears Lawrie's name and not Brewster's this is understandable. The book became one of the standard works on early Scottish freemasonry although it has been largely superseded by later works. There is no evidence that Brewster was a Freemason at the time he wrote the book, nor any that he became one later.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cooper |first=Robert |year=2006 |title=Cracking The Freemason's Code |publisher=[[Penguin (publisher)|Penguin]] |page=157 |isbn=978-1-84604-049-8}}</ref>

=== Opposition to evolution ===
Brewster's Christian beliefs stirred him to respond against the idea of the transmutation of species and the theory of evolution. His opinion was that "science and religion must be one since each dealt with Truth, which had only one and the same Author."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strathan |first1=Alexander |title=The Day of Rest in The Library Magazine of American and Foreign Thought |date=1881 |publisher=American Book Exchange |location=New York |page=426 |edition=Vol 8 |url=https://archive.org/stream/librarymagazine13unkngoog#page/n426/search/Darwin |access-date=18 August 2018}}</ref> In 1845 he wrote a highly critical review of the evolutionist work ''[[Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation]]'', in the ''[[North British Review]]''.<ref>{{cite book|author=John M. Lynch|title="Vestiges" and the Debate Before Darwin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gr6ZiGHAqHcC&pg=PA471|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-85506-862-9|pages=471|volume=1|date=January 2000}}. First published in ''[[North British Review]]''. vol 3 (August 1845, pp. 470–515)</ref> which he considered to be an insult to Christian revelation and a dangerous example of materialism.

In 1862, he responded to Darwin's ''On the Origin of Species'' and published the article ''[[s:The Facts and Fancies of Mr. Darwin|The Facts and Fancies of Mr Darwin]]'' in ''[[Good Words]]''. He stated that Darwin's book combined both "interesting facts and idle fancies" which made up a "dangerous and degrading speculation". He accepted adaptive changes, but he strongly opposed Darwin's statement about the ''primordial form'', which he considered an offensive idea to "both the naturalist and the Christian."<ref>Good Words (1862), Vol. 3; by Norman Macleod D. D. J.; Donald Macleod & Hartley Aspden. Alexander Strahan and Company. pp. 3–8</ref>

==Family==
[[File:David brewster group.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Calvert Jones]], Lady Brewster (Jane Kirk Purnell), Mrs. Jones, David Brewster and Miss Parnell (seated)]]

Brewster married twice. His first wife, Juliet Macpherson (c. 1776–1850), was a daughter of James Macpherson (1736–1796), a probable translator of [[Ossian]] poems. They married on 31 July 1810 in Edinburgh and had four sons and a daughter:<ref>Gordon, p. 45</ref>
*James (1812–)
*Charles Macpherson (1813–1828), drowned.<ref name=g244/>
*David Edward Brewster (17 August 1815 - 1878) became a military officer (Lieutenant Colonel) serving in India and laird of the Belleville estate in [[Badenoch]] on the death of his aunt, Ann Macpherson, in 1862.<ref name=g244/><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.stanford.edu/group/auden/cgi-bin/auden/individual.php?pid=I14167&ged=auden-bicknell.ged| title = Lieut.-Col. David Edward Brewster Macpherson of Balavil (I14167)| access-date = 18 September 2011| archive-date = 20 November 2012| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121120200323/http://www.stanford.edu/group/auden/cgi-bin/auden/individual.php?pid=I14167&ged=auden-bicknell.ged| url-status = dead}}</ref><ref name = "MackenzieTaylor2024">Mackenzie, Mary, and Taylor, David (2024), ''Glen Banchor: A Highland Glen and its People'', Badenoch Heritage, [[Kingussie]], pp. 117, 118, 133 & 134, {{isbn|9781913529154}}</ref>
*Henry Craigie (1816–1905) became a military officer and photographer.<ref name=g244>Gordon, p. 244</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.luminous-lint.com/app/photographer/Henry_Craigie__Brewster/|title=Biography of Henry Craigie Brewster from Metropolitan Museum of Art}}</ref> 
* Margaret Maria Gordon (1823–1907) wrote a book on Brewster,<ref>Gordon</ref> which is considered the most comprehensive description of his life.

In 1833, Brewster's sister-in-law, Ann Macpherson, became laird of Belleville on the death of her half-brother, James.  Brewster interested himself in the affairs of the estate with a view to promoting [[agricultural improvement]].  He gave the tenants the security of seven-year leases but his overbearing behaviour towards both them and their laird made him unpopular locally.<ref name = "MackenzieTaylor2024"/>

Brewster married a second time in Nice, on 26 (or 27) March 1857, to Jane Kirk Purnell (b. 1827), the second daughter of Thomas Purnell of Scarborough.<ref>Gordon, p. 151</ref> Lady Brewster famously fainted at the [[1860 Oxford evolution debate|Oxford evolution debate]] of 30 June 1860. Brewster died in 1868, and was buried at [[Melrose Abbey]], next to his first wife and second son.<ref name=odnb/><ref>Gordon, p. xiv</ref> The physics building at [[Heriot-Watt University]] is named in his honour.

==Recognition and modern references==
[[File:Street sign in Kings Buildings, Edinburgh to the memory of David Brewster.jpg|thumb|300px|Street sign in Kings Buildings, Edinburgh to the memory of David Brewster]]
A bust of Brewster is in the Hall of Heroes of the [[National Wallace Monument]] in [[Stirling]].

Brewster's views on the possibility of evolution of intelligence on other planets, contrasted with the opinion of [[William Whewell]], are cited in the novel ''[[Barchester Towers]]''.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Bowen|editor1-first=John|title=Barchester Towers|date=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=452|chapter=Explanatory notes|isbn=978-0-19-966586-0}}</ref>

He appears as a minor antagonist in the 2015 video game ''[[Assassin's Creed Syndicate]]'' as a scientist working for the game's opposing faction.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Assassin's Creed Syndicate: Locate David Brewster - A Simple Plan |url=http://orcz.com/Assassin%27s_Creed_Syndicate:_Locate_David_Brewster_-_A_Simple_Plan |date=26 October 2015 |access-date=30 January 2018 |journal=ORCZ}}</ref> He is assassinated by one of the protagonists, [[Evie Frye]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=A Simple Plan |url=http://www.ign.com/wikis/assassins-creed-syndicate/A_Simple_Plan |date=29 December 2015 |access-date=30 January 2018 |journal=[[IGN]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Assassin's Creed Syndicate: Air Assassinate Brewster – A Simple Plan |url=http://orcz.com/Assassin%27s_Creed_Syndicate:_Air_Assassinate_Brewster_-_A_Simple_Plan |date=26 October 2015|access-date=30 January 2018 |journal=ORCZ}}</ref> He features as a character in Ali Bacon's novel, ''In the Blink of an Eye'' (2018).<ref>Bacon, Ali, (2018), ''In the Blink of an Eye'', Linen Press, {{isbn|9780993599729}}</ref>

A street within the [[Kings Buildings]] complex (science buildings linked to [[Edinburgh University]]) was named in his memory in 2015.

==See also==
* [[Brewster's angle]]
* [[Coddington magnifier]]
* [[Brewster crater]]
* [[Brewsterite]]
* [[Physical crystallography before X-rays]]

==References==
{{Reflist|35em}}

==Sources==
<!-- Significant parts of the text are lightly paraphrased from EB1911, which is acknowledged in the references section -->
*{{A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature}}
*{{cite book|author=Gordon, Margaret Maria |title=The home life of sir David Brewster|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_sG4BAAAAQAAJ|access-date=18 September 2011|year=1881|publisher=D. Douglas|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_sG4BAAAAQAAJ/page/n238 221]–236}} [https://archive.org/stream/homelifeofsirdav00gord/#page/n5/mode/2up Downloadable archive copy]

== Further reading ==
* Brewster, David (1854). ''The Creed of the Philosopher and the Hope of the Christian''. Murray (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009; {{ISBN|978-1-108-00416-9}})
*{{cite book|author=Sir David Brewster|title=The kaleidoscope, its history, theory and construction with its application to the fine and useful arts|url=https://archive.org/details/kaleidoscopeits00unkngoog|access-date=18 September 2011|year=1858|publisher=J. Murray}} [http://www.kaleidoscopecollector.com/brewster_thekaleidoscope.pdf PDF copy]
* ''"The Home Life of Sir David Brewster"'' (1869). Written by his daughter Margaret Maria Gordon.

==External links==
{{Sister project links|David Brewster|wikt=no|v=no|n=no|s=Author:David Brewster|b=no}}
* [http://www.brewstersociety.com/ The Brewster Kaleidoscope Society]
* {{Gutenberg author | id=31721| name=David Brewster}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=David Brewster}}
* {{Librivox author |id=9894}}
* Brewster's (1831) [http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/color/id/5540 "On a new analysis of solar light, indicating three primary colours, forming coincident spectra of equal length,"] ''Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. 12,'' p.&nbsp;123–136. – digital facsimile from the [[Linda Hall Library]]
* Brewster's (1834) [http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/color/id/5524 "On the colours of natural bodies,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029100820/http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/color/id/5524 |date=29 October 2020 }} ''Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. 12,'' p.&nbsp;538–545. – Linda Hall Library
* Brewster's (1835) [http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/color/id/8396 ''A treatise on optics''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021162949/http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/color/id/8396 |date=21 October 2020 }} – Linda Hall Library
*[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/general.29167.1 Letters on Natural magic Addressed to Sir Walter Scott] From the Rare Book and Special Collection Division at the [[Library of Congress]]
*[https://www.grandlodgescotland.com/ The Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland.]

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{{Succession box|title=[[Principal of the University of St Andrews]]|before=|after=Reverend [[John Tulloch]] |years= 1837–1859}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John Lee (University Principal)|John Lee]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Edinburgh University Principals]]|years=1859–1868}} 
{{s-aft|after=[[Alexander Grant (University Principal)|Sir Alexander Grant]]}}
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{{Principals of the University of St Andrews}}
{{Principals of the University of Edinburgh}}
{{Copley Medallists 1801-1850}}

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