BREWSTER, Sir Rcvin (1781-1868). An eminent Scotch physicist. born at Jedburgh. Ile was educated for the Church of Scotland at the niversity of Edinburgh, and was licensed to preaeh by the presbvtery of Edinburgh. Instead of following the life of a clergyman, he devoted himself to scientific study and research and litera ture, and in 1808 lie became the editor of the. Ed inburgh Eneyelopagia, to which he contributed many important scientific articles. Previous to this he had entered deeply on the study of optics, with which his name is now enduringly associated. The optical toy called the kaleidoscope was invented by him in 1816, and he published a treatise on the instrument three years later. The stereoscope is also largely his invention. the honor being shared with Wheatstone, though the divided lenses and their arrangement are due entirely to Brewster. In 1817. in conjunction Nri III Pro fessor Jameson, he edited the Edinburgh, l'hilo sophical Journal, the name of which. in 1819, was changed to the Edinburgh Journal of Sci ence, and in 1831 he was one of the founders of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Brewster's. scientific work brought to him many honors. In 1813 he obtained the Copley pedal of the Royal Society for one of his optical discoveries, and soon after was elect NI a fellow. In 1816 he received half of the physical prize bestowed by the French Institute for two of the most important scientific dis coveries made in Europe during the two preced ing years. In 1819 the Royal Society awarded him the Rumford gold and silver medals for his discovery connected with the polarization of light. In 1825 he became corresponding mem
ber of the Institute of France. In 1831 lie was knighted and had a pension conferred upon him. In 1838 he was chosen principal of the united colleges of Saint Leonard and Saint Salvador, Saint Andrews. In 1849, on the death of Ber zelins in the preceding year, he was elected one of the eight foreign associates of the French In stitute. the highest scientific distinction in Eu rope. Brewster was also a member of the Im perial and Royal academies of Saint Petersburg, Berlin, Copenhagen. and Stockholm, and a for eign associate of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States. He presided over the British Association, and in 1851 over the Peace Congress held in London. In 1859 he was chosen vice-chancellor of the University of Edin burgh. llis principal work is his Life of New ton, first published in 1828. and issued in a totally new and greatly enlarged form in 1835. Among his other works are his interesting., Let ters ou Natural Magic, addressed to Sir \Valter Scott; More Worlds Than One (1854) ; his treatises on the kaleidoscope and on optics (Cabinet ryclopwdial: his _Martyrs of Sci ence; and his treatises in the Britanniea on electricity, magnetism. optics, the stereoscope, etc. Among the periodicals to which lie contributed largely are the Edinburgh and North British Reviews. Consult Gordon, Home Life of Brclester (Edinburgh, 1869).